African Artifacts
Although I was stationed in Paris, France, while in the Army, and traveled to Germany, Italy, and Norway while in Europe, I was a better traveler that collector. During subsequent visits to Europe, I took photographs and drew a few sketches, never bringing home other reminders of those visits. Similarly, I did not bring souvenirs from my days doing field work in Jamaica in However, when doing field work in Angola, in 1958-1959, my wife, Beth, and I received three carved figures from friends in Sa de Bandera, (now Lubango) in southern Angola.
When I taught at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria, in 1967-1969, I started collecting interesting African artifacts. Nigeria was than engaged in a civil war; and it was forbidden to take any money from the country. Thus, I used my relatively meager salary to buy local crafts, some traditional and others made specifically for foreigners. The negotiating process was much of the joy in buying goods. Northern Nigeria is the home of Fulani-speaking people. Traditionally they were cattle raisers who moved throughout the savannas of West Africa. In a nomadic tradition, the Fulani came into contact with the more settled agricultural peoples of the Sudan and Sahel and became traders of goods over long distances. And when I was in Nigeria, Fulani traders, as well as some local Hausa traders, often came to my house, wanting to sell home-crafted Nigerian goods as well as items from as far away as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Mali. In particular Mohamadu Ali, whose home was in Tudan Wada, a settlement of Northern Nigerians located near the walls of old Zaria, regularly came by riding his bicycle carrying two bags loaded with African artifacts. He would get off his bicycle and lay out his treasures for my inspection, expecting me to inspect every item for possible purchase. I did so, never showing particular interest in any specific item. We chatted about their source and character. Eventually, I would show interest in a particular item and ask how much he wanted for it. I would put it back; and then ask about another piece, also putting it back. Finally, he would tell me a lower price for one of the items; and I would counter with a somewhat lower price. And we would then agree on a price between his and my offers. Of course, I paid slightly more than the other foreigners he might show the items to, insuring that on his next visit he would come to me first with the better items in his inventory. The whole process gave pleasure to both of us.
Bronze Castings—Benin and Central Plateau Nigeria
An ancient tradition in southeastern and south-central Nigeria was the casting in bronze by the lost wax or cire perdue process. A wax model is made and placed in a mold of sand. The bronze is poured in and the wax melts and is replaced by the bronze. The bronze head that I have is most likely a copy of one of the Benin bronzes from the Province of Benin in southern Nigeria. I particularly like the serene countenance of the young man who was portrayed in this lifelike form. Probably made in the years before my purchase in 1968, it was one of many bronzes that are sold to tourists. The bronze bell, I was told, was made by a craftsman from one of the smaller ethnic groups the live in the central plateau region of Nigeria. I like its sound which s produced by an iron clapper that is tied to the handle by a leather strip. The round brass cigarette box was produced in Kano as a tourist item.
