The Black Atlantic/AAAS 329-01/ARTHIST 383-01/ICS 226S-01

Thursday, September 16

The Black Atlantic/AAAS 329-01/ARTHIST 383-01/ICS 226S-01

Left: Rigobert Bonne, Map of West Africa from the Gold Coast (modern day Ghana), south around the Bights of Benin and Biafara) to Gabon, Congo and Angola, 1770. Above: Map of the cultures of the Nigerian and Cameroonian Cross River area whose peoples were swept up during the transatlantic slave trade.

Left: Ejagham peoples (Nigeria), Photo of an Ekpe (or Men’s Leopard Secret Society) masquerader, early 20th century. Right: Ejaghampeoples (Nigeria), Photo of a priestess of Nnimm (or the Women’s Secret Society), early 20th century.

Left: Ejagham peoples (Nigeria), Aban Women’s Masquerade, 1957. Right: Ejagham peoples (Nigeria), Ekpa-Nkim Women Masqueraders, 2000.

Ejagham peoples (Nigeria), Women performing a Moninkim-style masquerade dance at the Calabar Carnival, early 21st century.

Ejagham peoples (Nigeria), Egbo Men’s Leopard Secret Society, early 20th century.

Left: Elliot Elisofon, Photo of Ekpe Men’s Leopard Secret Society masqueraders, Big Qua Town, Nigeria, 1959. Right: Phyllis Galembo, Photo of Akata Dance Masquerader, Nigeria, circa 1990s.

Clockwise from lower left: Efik/Keaka peoples (Nigeria), Fan with nsibidi writing, acquired 1909. Igbo peoples (Nigeria), Ukara cloth, 1972. Cotton, indigo dye. Ejagham peoples (Nigeria), Helmet mask, acquired 1942. Wood, animal skin, bone.

Efik peoples (Nigeria), Crest mask, early 20th century. Wood, animal skin, plant materials, bone, natural dye.

Above & below: Runaway slave & slave sale advertisements, referencing “Ibo” or “Eboe” peoples, late 18th century. Right: Daniel Orme, Frontispiece for The Life of Olaudah Equianoor Gustavus Vassa the African (London, 1789).

Above left: Ejagham peoples (Nigeria), Ekpe Leopard Secret Society Men’s masquerade, 1930s. Below left: Frederic Mialhe, El Dia de Reyes (The Holy Kings Day), Havana, Cuba, 1853. Chromolith. Below: Víctor Patricio de Landaluze, El Ñáñigo, from Tipos y costumbres de la isla de Cuba (1881).

Left: Photo of El Nanigo masquerader, Santiago de Cuba, 1970s. Above: Roy Sieber, Keeper of the Larabanga Mosque, Ghana, 1967. Photograph.

Maps of West Africa, showing geographic region where Mande- and Gur-speaking peoples live.

Left: A round adobe dwelling with thatched roof, Guinea, 21st century. Right: Kogi woman standing in front of a traditional adobe/thatched roof dwelling, Colombia, 21st century.

Above left: Tellem peoples (Mali), Fragment of a blanket, 11th century CE. Cotton. Below: Mande peoples (Sierra Leone or Liberia),Three bolts of “Country cloth,” 20th century. Cotton. Right: Mende weaver operating a tripod loom, Sierra Leone, early 20th

century.

Above and below left: Mande peoples (Sierra Leone or Liberia), Gowns, 19th century. Cotton.

Above: Mano peoples, (Liberia), Gown, 19th century. Cotton. Right: Dan peoples (Cote d Ivoire), Kono masquerade, 20th century. Wood, woven cotton, and raffia.

Mende peoples (Sierra Leone), Gown, 19th century. Cotton.

Left and below: Mende peoples (Sierra Leone), Blanket, 20th century. Cotton.

Mende peoples (Sierra Leone), Hammock, 19th century. Cotton.

Dogon peoples (Mali), Hunter’s Shirt with charms, 20th century. Cotton, shells, fiber, animal materials, etc. Vera Visitz-Ward, Limba Paramount Chief Bai Yankay Gbatongo II, wearing a charm-studded gown, 1986. Photograph.

Left: Jola peoples (Gambia), Ejumba mask (for male initiations), documented in 1825. Wood, cloth. Center: Jola peoples (Gambia), Kankurangmask (for male initiation and social control), documented in 1825. Fibers & vegetal materials. Right: Jonkunoo masqueraders, Jamaica, 2000s.

Jonkonnu masqueraders, Jamaica, 2000s.

Junkanoo: Bahamian term for Boxing Day masquerade

Jonkonnu: Jamaican term for Boxing Day masquerade

John Canoe: Same as above, plus name of early 18th-century slaver trader on Africa’s Gold Coast

John Coonah: Southern U.S. term for Christmas masquerade

gens inconnu: French for “masked people”

jeunes cannuers: French for “young cane cutters”

dzonko nu: Ewe term for “male sorcerer”

Winslow Homer, Dressing for the Carnival, 1877. Oil on canvas.

Maps of West Africa & the Akan-speaking peoples geographic distribution.

Above left: Watercolor of Elmina Castle, Gold Coast. 19th

century. Below left: Woodcut of Cape Coast Castle, Ghana. 1682.

Left: Hand-colored lithograph of a “Gentleman of the Gold Coast,” 18th

century. Above: Asante peoples (Ghana), Kente cloth in Adweneasa type (“My skill is exhausted”), 20th century. Cotton.

Above left: Ewe weaver working on a narrow-strip loom, Ghana. Late 20th century. Below left: Ewe peoples (Ghana), Detail of cloth, 20th century. Cotton.

Above: Ewe peoples (Ghana), Women’s wrap (kpetoe), 20th century. Cotton & silk. Right: Ewe peoples (Ghana), Cloth, 20th century. Cotton & silk.

Agostino Brunias, Linen Market, Dominica, c. 1775. Oil on canvas. Saramaka peoples (Suriname), detail of Man s shoulder cape, early 20th

century. Appliqued cotton.

Upper and lower left & above: Fante peoples (Ghana), Asafo flags, early 20th century. Cotton.

Lower left: Lucinda Toomer, Diamond Strip Quilt, c. 1975. Cotton corduroy and flannel, velvet, and wool. Upper left: Anonymous (Alabama), Strip- and patchwork quilt, 20th

century. Cotton. Above: Anonymous (Southern U.S.), Detail of a strip- and patchwork quilt, 20th century. Cotton.

Left: Fante peoples, Ghana, Drum, 20th century. Wood & animal hide. Right: “Slave drum” collected in colonial Virginia, late 17th century. Wood & deer-skin.

Clockwise from left: Harriet Powers (1837-1911). Harriet Powers, Bible Quilt, 1895-98. Appliqued cotton, metallic threads. Detail of Harriet Powers, Bible Quilt, 1895-98.