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Nupe people displaying traditional glass beads, Bida, Nigeria

National Museum of African Art

Object Details

Local Numbers
H 2 NPE 9 EE 59
General
Title is provided by EEPA staff based on photographer's notes.
Local Note
58482 63
Frame value is 14.
Slide No. H 2 NPE 9 EE 59
Photographer
Elisofon, Eliot
Collection Photographer
Elisofon, Eliot
Place
Africa
Nigeria
Topic
Cultural landscapes
Beadwork
Vernacular architecture
Photographer
Elisofon, Eliot
Culture
Nupe (African people)
See more items in
Eliot Elisofon Field collection
Eliot Elisofon Field collection / Nigeria
Extent
1 Slides (photographs) (col.)
Date
1959
Archival Repository
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
Identifier
EEPA.1973-001, Item EEPA EECL 7062
Type
Archival materials
Slides (photographs)
Color slides
Collection Citation
Eliot Elisofon Field Collection, EEPA 1973-001, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution
Collection Rights
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. Where noted, some images remain under the copyright of Life/Shutterstock. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Genre/Form
Color slides
Scope and Contents
Beadmaking industries still flourish among the Krobo peoples of Ghana and the Nupe peoples in Bida, Nigeria. The beadmaking industry at Bida is famous throughout West Africa. The German ethnologist Leo Frobenius (1873-1938) drew European attention to the beadmakers in Bida in 1911, when he first documented their technique (Frobenius 1968, 434-36). Since then, other scholars have described this technique in their works (see, for example, Carey 1991,12-14). To produce the desired colors for their beads, Nupe beadmakers melt colored glass from bottles or other glass beads in a small, woodburning, clay furnace. They then use iron rods to form the molten glass into various shapes (Frobenius 1968, 434). Finally, the beadmakers decorate their beads with a distinctive white pattern by winding a thin trail of white melted glass around the bead while it is still hot (Carey 1991,14). The fluid colors of the irregularly formed glass beads convey a sense of elegance. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959.
Collection Restrictions
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1536870822481-1536871015627-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo79bb54d69-892d-4159-aca1-b99730b65a8e

Related Content

  • Eliot Elisofon Field collection

Nupe people displaying traditional glass beads, Bida, Nigeria
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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