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Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
East African photographs, EEPA 2002-004, circa 1904-1919
Summary
- Collection ID:
- EEPA.2002-004
- Dates:
-
[circa 1904-1919]
- Languages:
-
German.
- Physical Description:
-
101 Photographic prints(1 box)black & white18 x 30 cm. or smaller
- Repository:
- Container:
- 1
Linen covered family album compiled by German merchant Paul Schaff. The album contains 24 pages and 101 photographic images ranging from small silver gelatin to large toned albumen. There are also several postcards and a pencil-drawing showing the owner on the last page. There is a caption under a postcard of a street in Dar es Salaam stating "Daressalam, my old domicile." Other photographs depict Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Bukoba, and Kifumbiro. The photographs reflect various subjects, including landscapes (Lake Victoria), a German military post, towns, adornments, and peoples, including the Luo, and Maasai. There are a few, large albumen prints which seem to depict German South-West Africa --judging by the dress of women in two images. These photographs might have been presents. Perhaps the owner of the album took a trip to that colony. Inscribed on the album cover are the words, "Zur Erinnerung an Deutsch-Ost-Afrika" [In memory of German East Africa] and a Maasai shield drawn in china ink and colors in the lower corner of the cover. On one of the last pages, there is the halftone color print of a bugle playing Askari, captioned "Deutsche vergesst nicht Eure Kolonien" [Germans do not forget your colonies]. The pencil portrait of the owner on the last page concludes the story line.
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
German merchant Paul Schaff lived and worked in German East-Africa (now Tanzania) from circa 1904-1915. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st class for serving as a machine gun gunner under the command of General Lettow-Vorbeck in WWI in East-Africa, when the British fought the Germans and ultimately took over the region. According to a caption and a picture in the album, Schaff returned to Germany in 1919.
Administration
Author
Paul Wood
Custodial History note
Purchased, 2002. Conserved through a preservation grant funded by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee, 2006.
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Conditions Governing Access note
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Keywords
Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
---|---|---|---|
Africa | Geographic | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Photographic prints | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Black-and-white photographs | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Tanzania | Geographic | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Maasai (African people) | Cultural Context | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
National Museum of African Art
P.O. Box 37012
MRC 708
Washington, DC 20013-7012
elisofonarchives@si.edu