Postcards collected by Leo Frobenius (1873-1938), who was an eminent German ethnographer, scholar and writer. He founded the Frobenius-Institut in Frankfurt, which exists to this day. It is likely that he collected them during his 1926 expedition to explore rock painting in the Nubian desert, which took him to Upper Egypt and to the Sudan. Another possibility is that he collected the cards on one of his later expeditions to North Africa or even purchased them in Europe.
Eleven postcards belong to a series published by G.N. Morhig, the English Pharmacy in Khartoum, a town Frobenius must have visited during his 1926 expedition. They depict peoples in the Sudan (Nubians, Arab, Shilluk, Tonga, Bari and Jur) and their various dress and adornment. Two photographic postcards by M. Venieris depict a dance, and, Ab del gadir-Wad Halomia, "the rebel of April 1908," clearly is republished from an earlier image. The remaining postcards are part of the typical Orientalist depictions of women and children. J. Geiser of Aligiers is one of the publishers.
Arrangement note:
postcards:organized in one volumes
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
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:
Picture postcards
Identifier:
EEPA.2003-002
Archival Repository:
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
