Ethnographic collecting and African agency in early colonial West Africa a study of trans-imperial cultural flows Zachary Kingdon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kingdon, Zachary, 1962- author.

Series:

Contextualizing art markets.

Contextualizing art markets

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World Museum Liverpool.

Art, West African--History.

Art, West African.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (369 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

London New York Bloomsbury Visual Arts 2019.

Summary:

"The early collections from Africa in Liverpool's World Museum reflect the city's longstanding shipping and commercial links with Africa's Atlantic coast. A principal component of these collections is an assemblage of several thousand artefacts from western Africa that were transported to institutions in northwest England between 1894 and 1916 by the Liverpool steam ship engineer Arnold Ridyard. While Ridyard's collecting efforts can be seen to have been shaped by the steamers' dynamic capacity to connect widely separated people and places, his Methodist credentials were fundamental in determining the profile of his African networks, because they meant that he was not part of official colonial authority in West Africa. Kingdon's study uncovers the identities of many of Ridyard's numerous West African collaborators and discusses their interests and predicaments under the colonial dispensation. Against this background account, their agendas are examined with reference to surviving narratives that accompanied their donations and within the context of broader processes of trans-imperial exchange, through which they forged new identities and statuses for themselves and attempted to counter expressions of British cultural imperialism in the region. The study concludes with a discussion of the competing meanings assigned to the Ridyard assemblage by the Liverpool Museum and examines the ways in which its re-contextualization in museum contexts helped to efface signs of the energies and narratives behind its creation."--Bloomsbury Publishing

The early collections from Africa in Liverpool's World Museum reflect the city's longstanding shipping and commercial links with Africa's Atlantic coast. A principal component of these collections is an assemblage of several thousand artefacts from western Africa that were transported to institutions in northwest England between 1894 and 1916 by the Liverpool steam ship engineer Arnold Ridyard. While Ridyard's collecting efforts can be seen to have been shaped by the steamers' dynamic capacity to connect widely separated people and places, his Methodist credentials were fundamental in determining the profile of his African networks, because they meant that he was not part of official colonial authority in West Africa. Kingdon's study uncovers the identities of many of Ridyard's numerous West African collaborators and discusses their interests and predicaments under the colonial dispensation. Against this background account, their agendas are examined with reference to surviving narratives that accompanied their donations and within the context of broader processes of trans-imperial exchange, through which they forged new identities and statuses for themselves and attempted to counter expressions of British cultural imperialism in the region. The study concludes with a discussion of the competing meanings assigned to the Ridyard assemblage by the Liverpool Museum and examines the ways in which its re-contextualization in museum contexts helped to efface signs of the energies and narratives behind its creation

Contents:

List of illustrations

List of colour plates

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction

Approach

Structure and outline

2. Prologue: Western Africa, Africans, and Liverpool's municipal museum

After the slave trade

The Niger expedition

Joseph Mayer and the inauguration of Liverpool's ethnography collection

Between empire and trade

Conclusion

3. Arnold Ridyard and his assemblage

Ridyard's family background and Methodist identity

Maritime career, collecting practices and social networks

Acquisition and generosity

Ridyard's dissenting interests

4. Diasporic dialogues: the Sierra Leonean donors I /W. R. Renner, West African Capitalist

Krio Diaspora: Collecting and Culture in the Early Twentieth Century

Women Donors: Mrs W. E. Johnson and Miss B Yorke

The Muslim Donors: Colonial Exclusion, African Regional trajectories

5. Trans-imperial identities: the Sierra Leonean donors II

Freetown, architecture, and Krio self-orientation

Krio male elites

'Upbuilding' and empire

Claudius D. Hotobah during

6. Coastal 'kings': the Gold Coast donors I /Ababio IV, Amonu V, Acquah II, and Prince Tackie

Kojo Ababio IV, Accra Political Player

Potters of Accra's Western Plains

Ambiguous 'Traditionalist': E. W. Quartey-Papafio

Dr. Edward Mettle, 'Man of Mystery and Power'

7. Coastal cosmopolitans: the Gold Coast donors II /Frederick Lutterodt, West African Photographer /Arthur Robert Chinery, Euro-Ga Professional /John Mensah Sarbah, 'Cosmopolitan patriot' /J. P. Brown, C. J. Bannerman and other 'Cosmopolitan Patriots'

Mobile elites: C. J. Reindorf, H. Van Hien and others

8. Museum meanings: regimes of classification, representation and display

Exhibiting order

Re-arranging and re-evaluating the Liverpool museum African collection in the 1930s

Erosion and occlusion: the Ridyard assemblage at the Liverpool Museum, 1905 to 1968

Epilogue

References

Index

List of Illustrations

List of Colour Plates

Structure and Outline

2. Prologue: Western Africa, Africans, and Liverpool's Municipal Museum

After the Slave Trade

The Niger Expedition

Joseph Mayer and the Inauguration of Liverpool's Ethnography Collection

Between Empire and Trade

3. Arnold Ridyard and his Assemblage

Ridyard's Family Background and Methodist Identity

Maritime Career, Collecting Practices and Social Networks

Acquisition and Generosity

Ridyard's Dissenting Interests

4. Diasporic Dialogues: The Sierra Leonean Donors I

W. R. Renner, West African Capitalist

The Muslim Donors: Colonial Exclusion, African Regional Trajectories

5. Trans-Imperial Identities: The Sierra Leonean Donors II

Freetown, Architecture, and Krio Self-Orientation

Krio Male Elites

'Upbuilding' and Empire

Claudius D. Hotobah During

6. Coastal 'Kings': The Gold Coast Donors I

Ababio IV, Amonu V, Acquah II, and Prince Tackie

7. Coastal Cosmopolitans: The Gold Coast Donors II

Frederick Lutterodt, West African Photographer

Arthur Robert Chinery, Euro-Ga Professional

John Mensah Sarbah, 'Cosmopolitan Patriot'

J. P. Brown, C. J. Bannerman and other 'Cosmopolitan Patriots'

Mobile Elites: C. J. Reindorf, H. Van Hien and others

8. Museum Meanings: Regimes of Classification, Representation and Display

Exhibiting Order

Re-arranging and Re-evaluating the Liverpool Museum African Collection in the 1930s

Erosion and Occlusion: The Ridyard Assemblage at the Liverpool Museum, 1905 to 1968

Notes:

Compliant with Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Content is displayed as HTML full text which can easily be resized or read with assistive technology, with mark-up that allows screen readers and keyboard-only users to navigate easily

Includes bibliographical references and index

ISBN:

9781501337956

1501337955

9781501337949

1501337947

9781501337932

1501337939

OCLC:

1062395773