Summary of statistics for African collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum up to 1945
[article ID:1]
For the purpose of this statistical exercise, the following countries have been considered as PART OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE for entire period up to 1945:
Botswana
Egypt [1]
The Gambia
Ghana
Kenya
Lesotho
Malawi
Mauritius
Namibia[2] , [3]
Nigeria
Seychelles[4], [5]
Sierra Leone
Somalia[6]
South Africa[7]
St Helena [8]
Sudan
Swaziland[9]
Tanzania[10]
Tristan da Cunha[11]
Uganda[12]
Zambia
Zimbabwe
[blue colour indicates those countries that were not part of British Empire for entire period]
Non-British Colonies or always independent countries [Africa]
Algeria
Angola
Benin Republic
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon Cameroun[13]
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Congo, People's Republic of
Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast
Djibouti
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea[14]
Ethiopia
Gabon
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
[Madeira]
Mali
Mauritania
Mayotte
Melilla
Morocco
Mozambique (Moçambique)
Niger
Reunion
Rwanda
São Tomé & Príncipe
Senegal
Togo[15]
Tunisia
Western Sahara
List of African countries currently used on database:
Algeria
Angola
Benin Republic
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon Cameroun
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Congo, People's Republic of
Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast
Djibouti
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gabon
The Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Mozambique (Moçambique)
Namibia
Niger [omit Nigeria]
Nigeria
Rwanda
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
Sudan
Swaziland
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Countries not included in statistics as there are no objects from them in the PRM collections
[article ID:2]
Ascension Island
Mayotte
Melilla
Reunion
São Tomé & Príncipe
St Helena
Tristan da Cunha
Western Sahara
NB Madeira is counted geographically as part of Africa but culturally it is part of Europe (there was no indigenous population before the Portuguese colonised it) I have therefore included it within Portugal within the European statistics.
1. Total number of objects from the continent
[article ID:3]
47,114, or 26 per cent of the total collections up to 1945. Africa artefacts form the largest continental collection in the Pitt Rivers.
This is a very close match to the division globally (60 - 40)
Note that this includes 35 Madeiran entries that are otherwise excluded from the African statistics (they are also counted as European and have been included in those statistics)
African countries with the most objects, up to 1945
with Colonial countries marked in blue
Egypt - 8,673
Nigeria - 7,119
South Africa - 6,747
Sudan - 4,754
Ghana - 4,331
Algeria - 2,480
Cameroon Cameroun - 1,756
Congo, Democratic Republic of - 1,635
Uganda - 1,245
Zimbabwe - 1,170
Kenya - 1,085
Tanzania - 814
Zambia - 734
Angola - 702
Morocco - 635
Malawi - 546
Somalia - 436
Tunisia - 395
Gabon - 356
Niger - 309
Mozambique (Moçambique) - 259
Libya - 240
Mauritania - 193
Rwanda - 183
Chad - 182
Congo, People's Republic of - 178
Botswana - 177
Burundi - 173
Ethiopia - 172
Sierra Leone - 167
Madagascar - 147
Cape Verde - 133
Togo - 91
Mali - 77
Benin Republic - 58
The Gambia - 55
Namibia - 53
Central African Republic - 36
Senegal - 31
Liberia - 30
Djibouti - 25
Lesotho - 22
Burkina Faso - 19
Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast - 19
Equatorial Guinea - 19
Guinea - 18
Guinea-Bissau - 13
Eritrea - 8
Seychelles - 6
Swaziland - 4
Mauritius - 3
Comoros - 2
Unsurprisingly lots of objects come from colonial areas. The non-colonial areas with the biggest collections in the top 20 for African countries are:
Algeria - 2,480
Cameroon Cameroun - 1,756
Congo, Democratic Republic of - 1,635
Angola - 702
Morocco - 635
Tunisia - 395
Gabon - 356
Niger - 309
Note that there are several British colonies from whom we have no objects:
Ascension Island
St Helena and Tristan da Cunha
Although the easy explanation for this is that the population of these places is very low (and therefore presumably the level of collected material culture).
Regional breakdown of African figures
The regions are defined as follows, where countries in bold type and underlined were countries (either whole or part thereof) under British control at some point in the period 1880-1900, and countries in bold only were also under British control but not in 1880-1900:
North Africa Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco (incl. Western Sahara), Mauritania
Northeast Africa Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti
West Africa Nigeria, The Gambia, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Chad
Guinea Coast Ghana, Sierra Leone, Togo, Guinea-Bissau, Benin Republic, Guinea,
Liberia, Cote d Ivoire
Western Equatoria Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea
Central Africa Zambia, DR of Congo, PR of Congo, Angola (incl. Cabinda)
East Africa Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zanzibar/Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi
Southern Africa Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique,
Namibia
Other Mauritius, Comoros Islands, Cape Verde, Madagascar [plus Seychelles, Ascension Island, Tristan da Cunha, St Helena, etc]
Total of North African objects up to 1945: 12,616
Total of NE African objects up to 1945: 5,395
Total of West African objects up to 1945: 7,792
Total of Guinea Coast objects up to 1945: 4,727
Total of Western Equatorial objects up to 1945: 2,167
Total of Central African objects up to 1945: 3,249
Total of East African objects up to 1945: 4,046
Total of Southern African objects up to 1945: 8,432
Total for Other Africa objects up to 1945: 291 + 2,133 [those countries not given specific country or countries provenance ] = 2,424
Note also that there are 2,132 objects for which no country has been identified, many of these are identified by loose regional associations such as West Africa etc. However we have not counted them in any of the statistics about countries or regions apart from this one
Because of the double counting between countries of one object (because it is not accurately enough provenanced by the original documentation) caution must be taken when examining statistics such as this however it does appear that North African objects form roughly a quarter of the entire African collections up to 1945, with West Africa and Southern Africa being next best represented.
Overall division of African objects into those that came from parts of the British Empire and those that did not:
Botswana - 177
Egypt - 8673
The Gambia - 55
Ghana - 4,331
Kenya - 1,085
Lesotho - 22
Malawi - 546
Mauritius - 3
Namibia - 53
Nigeria - 7,119
Seychelles - 6
Sierra Leone - 167
Somalia - 436
South Africa - 6,747
Sudan - 4,754
Swaziland - 4
Tanzania - 814
Uganda - 1,245
Zambia - 734
Zimbabwe - 1,170
Total for objects from African countries that were part of British Empire up to 1945: 38,141*
[ * Double counting between countries, some of which may be inside the British Empire and some outside will account for the total of colonial and non-colonial countries exceeding the total count of objects]
Non British Empire countries' objects:
Algeria - 2,480
Angola - 702
Benin Republic - 58
Burkina Faso - 19
Burundi - 173
Cameroon Cameroun - 1,756
Cape Verde - 133
Central African Republic - 36
Chad - 182
Comoros - 2
Congo, Democratic Republic of - 1,635
Congo, People's Republic of - 178
Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast - 19
Djibouti - 25
Equatorial Guinea - 19
Eritrea - 8
Ethiopia - 172
Gabon - 356
Guinea - 18
Guinea-Bissau - 13
Liberia - 30
Libya - 240
Madagascar - 147
Mali - 77
Mauritania - 193
Morocco - 635
Mozambique (Moçambique) - 259
Niger - 309
Rwanda - 183
Senegal - 31
Togo - 91
Tunisia - 395
Total for objects from outside the British Empire in Africa up to 1945: 10,574*
[ * Double counting between countries, some of which may be inside the British Empire and some outside will account for the total of colonial and non-colonial countries exceeding the total count of objects]
When were the African collections acquired:
[article ID:4]
Apart from the jump in the 1900s this appears to be an almost mathematical decade on decade increase. This is in contrast to the global figures which show a definite peak in the 1930s and a dip in the 1890s and 1900s. The figure for Africa for 1940 - 1945 is very high as it is only half a decade's worth.
NB a country by country accession by decade breakdown is available in the full African statistics. Naturally very few of them show the smooth mathematical progression noted above. The full statistics also discussions each country's accessions by decade against their colonial history. Here are the summaries for each of the British colonies:
Botswana:
In 1885 the British proclaimed a protectorate over their Tswana allies, extended in 1890 to cover more geographical area, Botswana was therefore a de facto member of the British Empire throughout the history of the Museum, there are small peaks in the 1900s, 1920s and 1930s but nothing significant.
Egypt:
The large peak in the part decade of the 1940s is due to the Seligman collections, whereas the 1920s peak comes from a variety of sources. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica on-line the British domination of Egypt began in 1882 and the Protectorate which was declared in 1914 formalised this colonial domination. The protectorate was ended in 1922 with a declaration of independence but Britain continued to control some matters including defence and in essence Egypt was not independent. This situation continued more or less until after the Second World War. Egypt can therefore be considered to be a de facto colony of the British throughout the period 1884 - 1945.
The Gambia:
Although there was British (and some French influence from Senegal) before 1889, the British did not get French agreement to British control before then. [According to one source Gambia became a Crown Colony in 1843] In 1894 a protectorate was established and 1900 the British imposed indirect rule on the interior. This continued until after the Second World War.
Ghana:
The Gold Coast was declared a British colony in 1874, before 1901 a protectorate was formed which continued until after the Second World War. The 1930s peak is probably due to 2 large collections from Rattray and Wild being received, and the 1920s peak is probably due to another collection from Wild.
Kenya:
In 1886 British interest in part of Kenya was recognized [sharing with Germany], in 1895 the East Africa Protectorate was declared, but not until 1920 was Kenya pronounced a Crown Colony. Certainly the collections from Kenya suggest that the most common time for accession was after 1900
Lesotho:
British rule began in 1884 (coincidentally) and this continued until independence.
Malawi:
The peak in the 1930s is due to a large donation from William Coleman Piercy, the peak in the 1900s does not appear to be due to one collector. The British started occupying Malawi in the 1880s and in 1891 the British established the Nyasaland Districts Protectorate (which changed its name to the British Central Africa Protectorate from 1893 and Nyasaland from 1907). This continued after the Second World War.
Mauritius:
In 1810 the British captured the island from the French and this was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris in 1814 and continued until independence. All the Mauritian objects came via the same donor, Beatrice Braithwaite Batty.
Namibia:
There does not seem to be any particular collector responsible for the peak in the 1900s. In the 1880s Germany annexed Namibia as South West Africa. In 1914-5 South African troops invade and captured the area, the League of Nations awarded the mandate to GB after the First World War. Therefore the peak of collecting in Namibia occurred before British colonial rule.
Nigeria:
The peak in the 1940s is due to the Jeffreys collection, the other two peaks (1910s and 1930s) are not explainable by a single cause. By 1880s Britain controlled most of Nigeria, by 1914 the area now recognized as Nigeria was formed as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria under a Governor based in Lagos.
Seychelles:
The Seychelles were formally ceded to the British in 1814 as part of the Treaty of Paris, in 1903 the Seychelles became a British Crown Colony.
Sierra Leone:
During the 19th century the British had increasing economic influence, in 1896 a British protectorate was declared. According to Sandra's sources in 1808 a Crown colony was declared. There does not seem to be an easily identifiable reason for the 1880s peak, although a good deal of these could have been collected before 1880 as they are from the Ashmolean, University Museum and the founding collection
Somalia:
Somalia was a 'theatre of competition' between Great Britain, Italy and France. A British protectorate was proclaimed over some areas in the late 1880s. France and Italy also seized control of areas of Somalia (France's part is now Djibouti). This confused situation continued until the Italians formed their short lived NE Africa empire in the 1930s. Most of the 1930s peak is due to a collection from Diana Powell-Cotton, the 1890s peak is due to another roguenot properly accessioned stone tool entry with unknown number of object and a guestimate
South Africa:
Union of South Africa formed in 1910, this could be said to be independence, The peaks in the 1920s and 30s is due to a large number of stone tool collections (with some guestimates about number of objects)
Sudan:
The British captured Sudan by 1899 and an Anglo-Egyptian Condominium was declared and the colony remained until after the Second World War. The peak in the 1940s coincides with the Seligman collection, amongst others, there are several entries in the 1920s which cover an unknown large number of objects and for which guestimates have been given
Swaziland:
The British via South Africa had influence from the 1880s, by the 1890s Britain was setting up a series of conventions which effectively passed control of the territory to them and from 1906 Swaziland was a colony
Tanzania:
Part of the German Empire until the First World War when control was moved to the British, although Zanzibar had long been a part of the British Empire.
Uganda:
From 1890 the Imperial British East Africa Company agreed to administer the country on behalf of the British government, it was declared a protectorate in 1894. By 1914 Uganda's boundaries had been fixed and British control had reached most areas. There is a large collection of Ugandan objects from Roscoe in the 1920s.
Zambia:
In 1889 the British government granted a charter to Rhodes' British South Africa Company bestowing powers of administration over the country, in 1924 power was handed over to the Colonial Office. There is quite a large collection from TS Fox Pitt in the 1930s and another large one from Balfour in 1900s
Zimbabwe:
The British South Africa Company gained administrative control of Zimbabwe in 1893, In 1923 it became a self-governing colony (these dates do not match Sandra's source). Amongst other collections there is a large collection from Henry Balfour in the 1900s.
African archaeology or ethnography:
[article ID:5]
This is very similar to the proportions for the collections up to 1945 globally for ethnography but there is a higher number of certain archaeological items from Africa than globally, a country by country division of objects by archaeology and ethnography is available in Part III of the fuller African statistics.
The percentage split for Africa as a whole is 60 per cent ethnography and 40 per cent archaeology which is very similar to the split for all objects in the PRM collections up to 1945. Although this match is present for Africa as a whole in fact there are a large number of African countries from whom there are only ethnographic objects and also other countries (typically ones with a larger number of objects) from whom a majority of archaeological objects have been donated:
Countries from which only ethnographic objects [shown in bold] , or a very high percentage, have been donated:
Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad [almost], Comoros, DR of Congo [almost], PR of Congo [almost], Côte D'Ivoire, Djibouti [almost], Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia [almost], Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho [almost], Liberia, Madagascar, Mali [almost], Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger [almost], Nigeria [very high percentage] , Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone [almost], Swaziland [almost], Tanzania [almost], Togo [almost],
Countries with a higher than average proportion of archaeological objects:
Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Libya [not that much higher], Mauritania, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Zimbabwe
From which it can be seen that North African archaeology forms almost half of the total African archaeological collections up to 1945 and in fact Egypt is a very high percentage of this
Ethnography is much more evenly split between the regions than archaeological collections were, with only West Africa being a lot larger than all other areas.
Just as West African collections dominated the regional breakdown so does Nigeria on its own dominate the most significant countries ethnographic collections
Archaeological or Ethnographic African collections from British colonies:
Countries |
Archaeology |
Ethnography |
Arch or Eth |
Botswana |
19 |
147 |
11 |
Egypt |
7,847 |
707 |
119 |
The Gambia |
0 |
55 |
0 |
Ghana |
580 |
3,570 |
181 |
Kenya |
123 |
960 |
2 |
Lesotho |
2 |
20 |
0 |
Malawi |
41 |
503 |
2 |
Mauritius |
0 |
3 |
0 |
Namibia |
0 |
53 |
0 |
Nigeria |
900 |
6,162 |
57 |
Seychelles |
0 |
6 |
0 |
Sierra Leone |
2 |
160 |
5 |
Somalia |
132 |
292 |
12 |
South Africa |
4,171 |
2,434 |
142 |
Sudan |
2,959 |
1,674 |
121 |
Swaziland |
1 |
3 |
0 |
Tanzania |
7 |
690 |
117 |
Uganda |
453 |
792 |
0 |
Zambia |
203 |
530 |
1 |
Zimbabwe |
745 |
345 |
80 |
|
|
|
|
Total for British colonies |
18,185 |
19,106 |
850 |
This is much more evenly split between archaeology and ethnography than the African collections as a whole, with proportionally more archaeology and less ethnography coming from British colonies (this may be affected by the large Egyptian archaeological collections).
Archaeological or Ethnographic African collections from outside the British Empire:
Countries |
Archaeology |
Ethnography |
Arch or Eth |
Algeria |
1,340 |
1,123 |
17 |
Angola |
0 |
702 |
0 |
Benin Republic |
13 |
44 |
1 |
Burkina Faso |
0 |
19 |
0 |
Burundi |
0 |
173 |
0 |
Cameroon Cameroun |
828 |
927 |
1 |
Cape Verde |
131 |
2 |
0 |
Central African Republic |
0 |
36 |
0 |
Chad |
3 |
179 |
0 |
Comoros |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Congo, Democratic Republic of |
15 |
1620 |
0 |
Congo, People's Republic of |
5 |
173 |
0 |
Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast |
0 |
19 |
0 |
Djibouti |
1 |
24 |
0 |
Equatorial Guinea |
0 |
19 |
0 |
Eritrea |
0 |
8 |
0 |
Ethiopia |
2 |
170 |
0 |
Gabon |
0 |
356 |
0 |
Guinea |
7 |
11 |
0 |
Guinea-Bissau |
0 |
13 |
0 |
Liberia |
0 |
30 |
0 |
Libya |
123 |
117 |
0 |
Madagascar |
0 |
147 |
0 |
Mali |
2 |
75 |
0 |
Mauritania |
193 |
0 |
0 |
Morocco |
95 |
539 |
1 |
Mozambique (Moçambique) |
0 |
259 |
0 |
Niger |
0 |
308 |
1 |
Rwanda |
0 |
183 |
0 |
Senegal |
0 |
31 |
0 |
Togo |
0 |
89 |
2 |
Tunisia |
317 |
71 |
7 |
|
|
|
|
Total for countries outside British Empire |
3,075 |
7,469 |
29 |
Proportionally there is much more ethnography in the outside British Empire collections than there was from the British colonies, in addition there is proportionally more than from the African collections as a whole
|
Archaeology |
Ethnography |
Arch or Ethn |
Total for British colonies |
18,185 |
19,106 |
850 |
Total for countries outside British Empire |
3,075 |
7,469 |
29 |
Items which were not clearly archaeological or ethnographic from outside the British Empire amounted to less than one per cent. British colonial collections in total represent about 79 per cent of the total collection (calculated by an other method the result was 78 per cent). The split in the colonial collections between archaeology and ethnography is pretty even, however ethnography from outside the British Empire is almost double the size of the archaeology collections from the same areas.
African objects by type:
[article ID:6]
All African objects by type in descending order:
Tool - 15,602 [definite tools excluding double-counting with weapons = 13,078]
Ornament & Bead - 8,320
Weapon - 7,453 [double counting with tools excluded = 4929 which would not affect its position]
Religion - 4,322
Pottery - 3,671
Archery Weapon - 3,001
Vessel - 2,498
Figure - 2,384
Measurement - 2,358
Music - 2,134
Specimen - 1,933
Death - 1,766
Food - 1,359
Basketry - 1,295
Clothing - 1,180
Trade - 1,149
Narcotic - 1,112
Animalia - 1,074
Box - 1,014
Currency - 913
Toy & Game - 810
Ceremonial - 802
Medicine - 779
Status - 732
Photograph - 720
Technique - 647
Plant - 632
Toilet - 613
Textile - 600
Reproduction - 582
Geology - 581
Furniture Dwelling - 549
Writing - 441
Transport - 438
Divination Religion - 437
Picture - 417
Firearm Weapon - 409
Children - 365
Model - 362
Agriculture - 345
Bag - 343
Body Art - 335
Metallurgy - 332
Cordage - 331
Animal Gear - 315
Dance - 297
Hunting - 251
Fishing - 249
Lighting - 245
Insignia - 226
Physical Anthropology - 225
Fire - 217
Mask - 166
Navigation - 141
Marriage - 136
Barkcloth - 108
Fan - 99
Punishment and Torture - 96
Dwelling - 95
Food-gathering - 77
Lock - 76
Armour Weapon - 61
Carving - 36
Commemoration - 25
Sport - 20
Signal - 18
Theatre - 16
Time - 7
Headhunting - 6
Scientific Apparatus - 0
Global up to 1945 |
|
|
Africa up to 1945 |
|
|
Position |
Type |
No. of objects |
Position |
Type |
No of objects |
1 |
Tool |
68,459 |
1 |
Tool |
15,602 |
2 |
Weapon |
32,794 |
2 |
Ornament & Bead |
8,320 |
3 |
Ornament & Bead ** |
21,345 |
3 |
Weapon |
7,453 |
4 |
Religion |
15,125 |
4 |
Religion |
4,322 |
5 |
Pottery |
12,597 |
5 |
Pottery |
3,671 |
6 |
Figure |
9,571 |
6 |
Vessel |
2,498 |
7 |
Vessel |
7,463 |
7 |
Figure |
2,384 |
8 |
Clothing |
6,846 |
8 |
Measurement |
2,358 |
9 |
Specimen |
6,722 |
9 |
Music |
2,134 |
10 |
Music |
6,038 |
10 |
Specimen |
1,933 |
11 |
Textile |
5,755 |
11 |
Death |
1,766 |
12 |
Toy & Game |
5,645 |
12 |
Food |
1,359 |
13 |
Food |
4,907 |
13 |
Basketry |
1,295 |
14 |
Death |
4,843 |
14 |
Clothing |
1,180 |
15 |
Box |
4,645 |
15 |
Trade |
1,149 |
16 |
Basketry |
4,235 |
16 |
Narcotic |
1,112 |
17 |
Currency |
3,995 |
17 |
Animalia |
1,074 |
18 |
Narcotic |
3,701 |
18 |
Box |
1,014 |
19 |
Writing |
3,670 |
19 |
Currency |
913 |
20 |
Measurement |
3,325 |
20 |
Toy & Game |
810 |
Generally speaking most African common types are in similar positions to those globally, Ornament and Bead swops position with Weapon, as does figure and vessel and music and specimen. Most other types towards the bottom of the top 20 are the same types but in different positions, however Measurement is no 8 in African terms but only 20th in global, Trade appears in the Africa top 20 [ at number 15] but is only 26th in global terms. Animalia also appears slightly more commonly in the African collections than globally [17 from 21]. We have added Measurement to the African country types research. However it is principally Ghanian [Asante gold] weights which make this such a common category
As usual tools in general and stone tools in particular form a very large part of the overall African collections, roughly a third of all African objects up to 1945 was a tool and nearly a third of all of them was in fact a stone tool. As usual it is not always possible to count what items are tools and which weapons, of the 15,602 items which could be tools 2,524 might also be weapons
Country by country breakdowns of classes and number of objects is given in the fuller African statistics. Some highlights are given below:
NB We adjusted the ornaments figure to allow for the overlap with weapons/ tools to compile this pie chart
African field collectors:
[article ID:7]
Here are the highlights, full versions in the fuller African statistics:
Angola -
Field collectors:
The main field collectors from Angola up to 1945 were Antoinette and Diana Powell-Cotton with 605 objects, 86 per cent of the overall Angolan collections
PRM Sources:
Correspondingly the main PRM source was Antoinette Powell-Cotton who donated 477 objects (all collected by her and her sister) [68 per cent of the Angolan collections up to 1945].
Burundi -
William Alfred Cunnington is the main field collector with 39 objects (100 of the objects are in fact sherds from one pot collected by ACA Wright - another guesstimate) and he is also the main PRM source, via Miss EB Cunnington.
Cameroon Cameroun -
Mervyn David Waldegrave Jeffreys is by far the most dominating field collector of Cameroon objects with 1553 objects in his collection as against a total of 1756 for Cameroon as a whole (and his source for the PRM, the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum is therefore the single most dominating PRM source for objects from this country. This is 88 per cent of the total Cameroons collections up to 1945
Cape Verde -
131 of the 133 Cape Verde objects were collected and obtained from Osbert Guy Stanhope Crawford
Chad -
Field collectors and PRM sources:
Olive Temple - 47 [26 per cent]
Anthony John Arkell - 67 [37 per cent]
Percy Amaury Talbot - 26 [14 per cent]
R. Hottot - 18 [10 per cent]
Comoros -
The pair of shoes from the Comoros came to the PRM via the Ashmolean and may have been part of the Tradescant collection
Congo, Democratic Republic of -
The major field collectors appear to be:
Emil Torday: 393 [24 per cent]
F.O. Stohr: 148 [9 per cent]
Melville William Hilton-Simpson : 142 [9 per cent]
PRM sources (amongst others):
Emil Torday: 368
F.O. Stohr: 148
Melville William Hilton-Simpson : 141
Djibouti -
11 of the 25 Djibouti objects came from Wilfred Patrick Thesiger who also collected them.
Egypt -
Major Field Collectors:
Charles or Brenda Seligman - 1963
Francis Llewellyn Griffith - 2144
Flinders Petrie - 874
Major PRM Sources:
Charles or Brenda Seligman - 2146
Francis Llewellyn Griffith - 2112
Egypt Exploration Fund - 1072
Ethiopia -
The only major field collectors and donors of Ethiopian objects appears to Wilfred Patrick and Wilfred Gilbert Thesiger who collected over a third of the objects (68 out of 172) between them.
Gabon -
304 of the 356 Gabon objects came via the founding collection, of these 92 (nearly a quarter of the entire Gabon collection up to 1945) was field collected by Robert Bruce Napolean Walker .
Ghana -
Main field collectors:
Rattray - 1215
Robert Powley Wild - 1639
Main PRM Sources:
Rattray - 1154
Robert Powley Wild - 1776
Kenya -
Field collectors [and donors] include:
William Scoresby Routledge - 191 [18 per cent]
Alfred Claud Hollis - 128 [12 per cent]
EE Evans-Pritchard - 75 [7 per cent]
Libya -
PRM sources and field collectors:
William Boyd Kennedy Shaw - 37 [15 per cent]
Christopher Musgrave - 100? [42 per cent]
MHA Boyd - 60 [25 per cent]
The last two's figures are guesstimates
Madagascar -
The dominating field collector and donor of Madagascan objects up to 1945 was James Sibree a missionary who collected and donated 82 of the 147 objects (55 per cent)
Malawi -
The Universities Mission to Central Africa collected 318 of the 546 items from Malawi [58 per cent], of these William Coleman Piercy collected 232 [72 per cent of the UMCA donation, 42 per cent of the Malawi collections up to 1945]. Sheffield Airey Neave collected 43 [nearly 8 per cent].
Mali -
The most dominating field collector (and donor) of objects from Mali was Samuel P Powell who donated 60 of the 77 objects (NB a good proportion of this 60 objects are not certain to be from Mali but may come from another country)[78 per cent]
Mauritania -
All the Mauritanian collections came from Louis Didon (via HEP Breuil) and were field collected by him
Mauritius -
All 3 Mauritian objects were donated by Beatrice Braithwaite Batty and do not have a named field collector
Morocco -
Seligman - 79 objects [12 per cent]
Moseley - 64 [10 per cent]
Balfour - 59 [9 per cent]
Canziani - 131 [21 per cent]
seem to be the major field collectors and donors:
Mozambique (Moçambique) -
DF Stowell - 73 [28 per cent]
GA Turner - 79 [31 per cent]
seem to be the two main field collectors and donors, the other objects came to the museum from a variety of sources
Niger -
Samuel P Powell collected and donated 70 items [23 per cent] , Francis James Rennell Rodd collected and donated 217 [70 per cent]
Nigeria -
Mervyn David Waldegrave Jeffreys collected 3110 objects (they came to us via the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum). This is 44 per cent of the Nigerian collection. He was the major single collector of Nigeria objects, there are a number of other collectors who collected large numbers of objects from Nigeria but in the light of the large number of overall objects from there , their contributions do not form more than 5 per cent [eg Talbot, GI Jones]
Rwanda -
The two principal field collectors and donors of Rwandan (or possible Rwandan) objects were JET Philipps 28 objects [15 per cent] and Armine Charles Almroth Wright with 129 objects [70 per cent]
Senegal -
9 of the Senegalese objects came from GC Denton (he collected them also) (just under a third of the entire collection), 12 came from the founding collection (field collector mostly unknown)(more than a third of the collection).
Seychelles -
All but one of the 6 Seychelles objects came from William Allan or Allen, a missionary who also collected the objects
Sierra Leone -
Dr Sims or Simms - 45 seems to have been the single largest field collector [a quarter of the Sierra Leone collection] his objects were given via the Ashmolean Museum. AC Hollis also collected and gave 16 objects [around 10 per cent]
Somalia -
Diana Powell-Cotton collected and donated 217 objects [50 per cent of the Somali collections] HW Seton-Karr gave 132 objects [30 per cent]
South Africa -
Henry Balfour [fc] 430 [prms] 441
James Swan 756
Penelope Ward [fc] 1272
The remainder of the collections are made up of smaller donations / collections.
Sudan -
Seligmans = 409 [9 per cent]
FL Griffith - 2782 [59 per cent]
The above are the principal field collectors though of course a lot of other famous Sudan people eg Evans-Pritchard and Arkell gave sizeable collections but they are not over five per cent of total Sudanese collections
Swaziland -
Half of the Swaziland collection of 4 objects came from Henry Reade Woodroofe
Tunisia -
Garrod - 67 [17 per cent]
Seligmans - 50 [13 per cent]
John Abercromby - 50 [13 per cent]
Louis Didon - 35 [9 per cent]
Marius Latapie - 119 [30 per cent]
The above are the larger field collectors from Tunisia
Uganda -
J Roscoe - 381 [31 per cent]
EJ Wayland - 195 [16 per cent]
ACA Wright - 104 [8 per cent]
Zambia -
Balfour donated 224 Zambian objects [31 per cent], TS Fox Pitt gave 267 [36 per cent], both collected there as well as donating objects
Zimbabwe -
Balfour donated 573 Zimbabwean objects [49 per cent] , EM Andrews gave 263 [22 per cent] , both collected and donated from there
Overall Africa
Africa Field Collectors of note:
MDW Jeffreys - 4,671
Henry Balfour - 1,955
F Ll Griffith - 2,872
Seligmans - 3,288
RP Wild - 1,665
Rattray - 1,218
P Ward - 1,277
Note that as a consequence of the different way in which this database is worked out from the way we worked out field collectors Leakey who is a prominent African field collector does not have a significant field collection according to this database (because the majority of his items were not accessioned by 1945). If he had been included his collection is larger than Jeffreys (of course he is not included in the total African count either so the percentages if he were included for all collectors would change).
Significant PRM sources of African material:
Wellcome - 4,692
Seligman - 3,503
Balfour - 2,849
Griffith [and wife] - 2,840
Pitt Rivers - 1,686
As with field collectors Arkell's and Leakey's very significant collections are not included because most of it was accessioned after 1945
'Relational Museum' project team
October 2003
[1] Egypt was never a formal colony as such but can be considered to be so for the purposes of this exercise
[2] Namibia was part of South Africa (and therefore for the purposes of this exercise part of British Empire) from 1919, before that date it was German: it may not be possible to divide the object neatly to being collected before and after this date
[3] NB Namibia not included as part of British Empire in Sandra's pilot project, the position post 1900 changes
[4] The Seychelles formally became a British crown colony in 1903 and was declared independent in 1976
[5] NB Seychelles not included as part of British Empire in Sandra's pilot project, the position post 1900 changes
[6] Note that part of Somalia was for a time part of Italy but it will not be possible to identify the provenance of most (?all) objects so precisely that it will be possible to identify which these are so for these purposes it has all been considered part of British Empire.
[7] South Africa was technically a protectorate rather than a colony for most of the relevant period, however in effect it was part of the British Empire
[8] NB St Helena not included as part of British Empire in Sandra's pilot project
[9] Again was not incorporated into what became South Africa until 1894 but it is probably too difficult (?impossible) to sort out those items which came into the collections prior to 1894
[10] Tanzania was German until 1919
[11] NB Tristan da Cunha not included as part of British Empire in Sandra's pilot project
[12] Uganda was formally part of British Empire from 1894
[13] Part of Cameroon was British for the relevant period BUT it was a relatively small part, as the northern part of British Cameroon joined Nigeria, only the southern part became part of the Republic of Cameroon. I have therefore decided to exclude the whole country, the majority of which was for most of the relevant period part of the French Empire.
[14] Was British from 1941, but such a short period that difficult to access statistically (I would have to be sure that the object had been COLLECTEDprior to 1941)
[15] Togo was originally German and from 1914 was shared between the British and French although it does not appear to have been a very important British colony (the French part pre-dominating). I have therefore decided to consider the whole NOT a British colony despite the fact that part was for over half the colonial period (this also reflects the practical implications that it is extremely unlikely that I can provenance objects well enough to know if they come from French or British Togoland).