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Barbara Blackmun Collection

National Museum of African Art

Object Details

Photographer
Blackmun, Barbara Winston, 1928-2018
Names
Erediauwa, King of Benin, 1923-2016
Place
Nigeria
Ife (Nigeria)
Africa
Benin
Topic
Altars
Art, African
Rites and ceremonies -- Africa
Egúngún (Cult)
Yoruba (African people)
Provenance
Donated by Monica Blackmun Visona, 2016.
Photographer
Blackmun, Barbara Winston, 1928-2018
Culture
Edo (African people)
See more items in
Barbara Blackmun Collection
Summary
The collection includes 1,469 color slides (35mm) which were taken in Nigeria from circa 1964-1994, and focus on ancestral altars; artists; art objects in museums, including bronze plaques and carved ivory tusks; ceremonies and festivals, including the Igue and Ewere Festivals, and the Emobo, Otue, Olokun, title-taking, and Blackmun's initation ceremonies; and people, including Oba Erediauwa and chiefs Eribo, Ero, Esogban, Ezomo, Ohanmu and Osaigeide; and street and landscape scenes in Benin City, Ife, Lagos, Ishiago, and Mbarri, Owerri, Owo, among other locations in Nigeria.
Biographical / Historical
African art historian Barbara Winston Blackmun (1928-2018) was a specialist in Nigerian antiquities, particularly Nok terracottas, the bronzes of Ile Ife, and the bronzes and ivories of the Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria. She earned her BFA at UCLA (1949), MA at Arizona State University (1971), and Doctor of Philosophy in Art History at UCLA (1984). Over her career, Blackmun's research has included fieldwork in Malawi (1964-1969) and research of Ife antiquities with Frank Willett (1978-79) and various collections on Benin antiquities in the U.K., U.S., Europe, and Africa (1980-present). Recipient of a Fulbright (1981-1982) and a National Endowment for the Humanities grant (1994), she conducted field work at the Oba's court in Benin City, Nigeria. Additionally, she has published numerous exhibition catalogs and articles in journals such as African Arts. Blackmun taught art history at the Malawi Polytechnic College, Blantyre, (1965—1969), San Diego Mesa College (at which she is Professor Emeritus) (1971—2010), University of California, San Diego (1987, 2008, 2004), and UCLA (1987, 2000), among other places. She also curated and acted as a curatorial consultant of African art collections at numerous institutions, including Mesa College, the San Diego Museum of Art (2010), Chicago Field Museum (1990—1993), Chicago Art Institute (1994, 2006—2008), Detroit Institute of Art (2002—2010), Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Vienna (2003—2008), and the Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin (2003—2008). Her committee work includes serving as National Program Director for the African American Institute, Malawi (1968—1969), a member of the Education Council, Contemporary Arts Committee, San Diego Museum of Art (1975—1978), a board member of the San Diego Mesa College Foundation (1983-) and the African and African-American Studies Research Center, University of California, San Diego, and Chair of the African Arts Council, San Diego Museum of Art.
Extent
1,440 Color slides
Date
circa 1969-1994
Archival Repository
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
Identifier
EEPA.2016-012
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Color slides
Citation
Barbara Blackmun Collection, EEPA 2016-012, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Arrangement
Arranged into 4 series: Series 1: Museum Objects (747 slides), 1979-1994 Series 2: Ceremonies (227 slides), circa 1969-1994 Series 3: People (354 slides), circa 1969-1994 Series 4: Landscape and Street Scenes (141 slides), circa 1969-1994
Processing Information
Digitized in 2017. Finding aid by Eden Orelove, 2018.
Rights
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Genre/Form
Color slides
Scope and Contents
The collection includes 1,469 color slides (35mm) which were taken in circa 1969 to 1994, and focus on African art objects, prominent people, especially chiefs, festivals and ceremonies, and landscape and street scenes in Nigeria, including Benin City, Ife, Ishiago, Jeronimos, Lagos, Mbari, Oshagbe, Owerri, Owo, Oyo, and Udu. Many of the images are of art objects in museums, particularly in the Jos Museum, the Owo Museum, the Benin Museum, the Lagos Museum, the Ife Palace Museum, and the University of Ife Museum. The objects include altar stands, armlets, bells, bowls, boxes, bracelets, figures, Oko (flutes), ivory gongs, Ikengobos, masks, motif drawings, pendants, plaques, regalia, salt cellars, staffs, stools, and carved ivory tusks. People depicted include the Oba Erediauwa, and the chiefs Eribo, Ero, Esogban, Ezomo, Ohanmu and Osaigeide. The collection also documents ceremonies and festivals, including the Igue and Ewere Festivals, and the Emobo, Otue, and Olokun ceremonies as well as Ineh Isienmwenro's title-taking, and Blackmun's initation.
Restrictions
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details. Items 1234-1256 restricted. Available to view onsite only.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1540228827713-1540228827724-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo7f41661a7-24f4-48b4-bf6c-86f882c772cb

In the Collection

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  • Head with Striations and Lateral Cornrows

  • Igue Festival, Nigeria

  • Ife Brass Stool, Possibly Ijebu, University of Ife, Ife, Nigeria

  • Chief Ineh Ohanmu

  • Female Owo Figure

  • Ekpo Mask

  • Chiefs Dancing, Igue Festival, Nigeria

  • Ife Terracotta Head

  • Ife, Nigeria

  • Motif Drawing

  • Palace Relief Depicting Priestess Enahen, wife of Ozolua

  • Carved Ivory Tusk Depicting "Elephant Man", Leiden

  • Carved Bone, Benin Museum Store

  • Oba , Emobo Ceremony, Nigeria

  • Mbari, Nigeria

  • Ewere Festival, Nigeria

  • Ita Yemoo Queen

  • Igbo Ukwu Bronze, Snake

  • "Owl Man," Ife Terracotta Head

  • Carved Ivory Tusks

  • Chief Ezomo with Son

  • Plaque Depicting Head of Horse

  • Benin Brass "Enemy" Head with Facial Marks

  • Ewere Festival, Nigeria

  • Benin City, Nigeria

  • Ewere Festival, Nigeria

  • Chief Ezomo's Ikengobo

  • Unidentified Figure

  • Ivory Tusk

  • Chief Ero

  • Bat Chart

  • Igbo Ukwu Bronzes

  • Bronze Head named "Our Head", Gift from Oba to Blackmun

  • Chief Ezomo's Ikengobo

  • Azaigueni

  • Unidentified Town, Nigeria

  • Ivory Bracelets

  • Benin Plaque Depicting Group of Foreigners, Benin Museum, Benin, Nigeria

  • Bat Chart

  • Oba, Emobo Ceremony, Nigeria

  • Nok Terracotta Figure

  • Ineh Isienmwenro's Wives, Ineh Isienmwenro's Title-Taking Ceremony

  • Unwangwe, Ewere Festival, Nigeria

  • Priest Osa of Ora

  • Chiefs Arriving at Igue Festival, Igue Festival, Nigeria

  • Benin City, Nigeria

  • Ife Heads

  • Emobo Ceremony, Nigeria

  • Aigbe Eson

  • Ife, Nigeria

  • Ejagham

  • Ihama, Ewere Festival, Nigeria

  • Plaque Display, Pitt Rivers, Oxford, England

  • Chiefs Dancing, Igue Festival, Nigeria

  • Detail of Bat on Gara Warrior Costume

  • Nok Terracotta Figure

  • Ivory Box

  • Motif Drawing

  • Ivory Figure

  • Akenzua II

  • Royal Family, the Enogie and Obagie, Igue Festival, Nigeria

  • Celestial Objects

  • Ivory Gong

  • Chiefs Dancing, Igue Festival, Nigeria

  • Osuan Arriving, Igue Festival, Nigeria

  • Ivory Gong, Schwartz Collection, Amsterdam

  • Funeral, Benin City, Nigeria

  • Chief Edo-Osagie, Igue Festival, Nigeria

  • Musicians, Otue Ceremony, Nigeria

  • Chief Ezomo's Ikengobo

  • Shrine

  • Palace Relief Depicting Akenzua II

  • Belem, Jeronimos, Nigeria

  • Ifieto, Emobo Ceremony, Nigeria

  • Belem, Jeronimos, Nigeria

  • Pendant, Jos Museum, Jos, Nigeria

  • Bronze Bell with Bat Figure

  • Benin Plaque, Benin Museum, Benin, Nigeria

  • Plaque Depicting Iwoki

  • Chief Osuma Leaving his Home, Ewere Festival, Nigeria

  • Chiefs Dancing, Igue Festival, Nigeria

  • Osa Omoregie

  • Chief Osuma's Regalia

  • Ivory Eshu Head

  • Ineh Isienmwenro's Title-Taking Ceremony

  • Jeronimos, Nigeria

  • Nok Terracotta Figure

  • Monkey Motif Drawing

  • Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria

  • Chiefs, Otue Ceremony, Nigeria

  • Esekhurhe, Emobo Ceremony, Nigeria

  • Palace Relief Depicting Esigie

  • Eson, Emobo Ceremony, Nigeria

  • Bronze Head named "Our Head", Gift from Oba to Blackmun

  • Carved Ivory Tusk, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY

  • Chiefs Dancng, Igue Festival, Nigeria

  • Broze Bowl with Monkeys

  • Ivory Bracelets

  • "Owl Man," Ife Terracotta Head

  • Ogiamien's Ikengobo

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Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria
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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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