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The prior gallery showed the depiction of ordinary people in ordinary pursuits, all the figures needed to create a
virtual diorama of a Liberian village. This gallery focuses on Ldamie's attention to detail, and
how his work was drawn directly from the people with whom he interacted on a daily basis. It is a
direct comparison between the work of Ldamie, and the photographs taken in Liberia by Walter Logan Fry, during the period
1934 to 1935.
So let us begin. | Compare
the hairstyling of the figure to the left (Figure 007004),
with the hair styling of the net fisher,
positioned on the left side of the photograph, seen
immediately to the right.
Ldamie incorporated the clothing, adornment and hair styling
of his people into his sculpture. This is one of the
defining elements of his work; and when such features are
seen in an as of yet unattributed sculpture, it is one
indicia that it is the work of Ldamie.
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Figure 007002
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
female figure carrying water; collected
1934-1935 by Walter Logan Fry; brass
(copper alloy); 8 11/16 in. (22 cm).
collection of William Logan Fry.
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Photograph by Walter Logan Fry
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A mother carrying a baby on her back was one of the frequent themes in Ldamie's work. Compare the figure to the right, with father's photographs of market and street scenes, one on the left and two on the right. If you look at the photographs closely, you will see mothers carrying babies on their backs.
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Figure 009002
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
female figure carrying child; collected
1926-30 by Walter Wilson; brass (copper alloy);
7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm); collection of
William Logan Fry.
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Photograph by Walter Logan Fry
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Photograph by Walter Logan Fry
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One of father's loveliest photographs shows a young woman using a mortar and pestle to grind grain with an infant
in the background. Ldamie created at least three figures of women grinding grain, one of which can be seen to the right of the
photograph.
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Photograph by Walter Logan Fry
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Figure 018001
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia; female
figure pounding rice; collected in 1936
by Etta Becker-Donner; brass (copper alloy),
Weltmueum Wien Inv. No. 126144
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Notice
the leopard tooth necklace on one of the wives in the
photograph to the right. Then compare to the figure to the
right (Figure 007004).
Only women wore this necklace, never men; and of all the figures I've examined, now in excess of 190 (and made by all of the
contemporary brass casters in Liberia), only Ldamie
depicted women wearing a leopard tooth
necklace.
It is also worthy of note that each of the Ldamie figures wearing the leopard tooth necklace has some lower body covering,
indicating a higher status for those subjects.
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Photograph by Walter Logan Fry
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Figure 007004
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
female figure with leopard tooth
necklace; collected 1934-1935 by
Walter Logan Fry; brass (copper alloy);
7 1/2 in. (19.1 cm). collection of
William Logan Fry.
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Compare
the hairstyling of the figure to the left (Figure 007004),
with the hair styling of the net fisher,
positioned on the left side of the photograph, seen
immediately to the right.
Ldamie incorporated the clothing, adornment and hair styling
of his people into his sculpture. This is one of the
defining elements of his work; and when such features are
seen in an as of yet unattributed sculpture, it is one
indicia that it is the work of Ldamie.
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Photograph by Walter Logan Fry
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Father never captured an image of a woman wearing heavy brass bracelets or anklets, but he did capture this picture of a young
woman and two young boys wearing elephant hoof and aluminum bracelets. Ldamie frequently showed woman wearing
such jewelry, as in the the woman winnowing grain further to the right.
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Photograph by Walter Logan Fry
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Figure 007001
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
female figure winnowing rice; collected
1934-1935 by Walter Logan Fry; brass
(copper alloy); 7 1/2 in. (19 cm).
collection of William Logan Fry.
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In the figure to the left, notice the hairstyling. It is one of the frequent hairstylings seen in the sculptures of Ldamie.
The other style is seen in the sculpture of the girl with the leopard tooth necklace, further to the left. This figure shows a
prominent braid extending from the top of the forehead outward.
Father
never caught images of either style of hair, since most of the women he photographed were wearing head coverings. He could
not catch with a camera what Ldamie captured in brass. Father did capture one very nice image of a mother braiding the hair
of her daughter, seen to the right.
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Photograph by Walter Logan Fry
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In the figure to the right, a man is seen playing some type of musical instrument. Notice his stove pipe hat, however.
To the right of the figure is a photograph of a young man wearing a stove pipe hat on the street.
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Figure 013008
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People, Liberia;
man holding unknown object; collected
1926-30 by Walter Wilson, employee
the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., Liberia
brass (copper alloy); Brooklyn Museum
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Photograph by Walter Logan Fry
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In the figure to the right, man is shown wearing a kufi, an Islamic hat, and carrying knife and ritual object.
To the right of the figure is a photograph of two mean and a young boy. The two mean are seen wearing kufis.
To make a point made earlier, notice the men in the photograph are fully clothed, from top of their heads to the soles of their
feet, with only
the boy being barefoot.
Ldamie is faithful to reality in portraying the activities, work and adornment of the people he depicts,
but, in what might be called a European tradition, depicts them as nudes.
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Figure 013004
Artist: Attributed to Bwayen; We People /
Liberia; beyond question Ldamie / Dan People;
man with hat carrying knife and ritual object;
collected during Brooklyn Museum Expedition
1922; brass (copper alloy); 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm); Brooklyn
Museum; Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.212
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Photograph by Walter Logan Fry
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Ldamie frequently depicted musicians, predominately drummers and horn players. In the figure to the right, he
depicts a horn player, playing a bugle.
Father never spoke of jazz clubs in Liberia, as you might find in the USA, but he
did take photos of men playing horns. In the photograph to the left of the figure, he captures a military parade in Monrovia,
with the musicians in the front playing baritones, and further back, a musician playing a European style, marching bass drum.
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Figure 003007
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
Male Figure Blowing a Horn; collected
1929 or earlier by Conrad T. Bussell; brass
(copper alloy); 6.0 in. (15.3 cm). Baltimore
Museum of Art; Gift of Catherine and
Robert B. Bussell; BMA 1998:449.
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Photograph by Walter Logan Fry
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Figure 007006
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
male figure with slit drum; collected
1934-1935 by Walter Logan Fry; brass
(copper alloy); 10 11/16 in. (27.1 cm).
collection of William Logan Fry.
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Notice the following photograph from a page of The Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, Ohio, December 27, 1942. which
father kept among his own photographs.
Compare it to Ldamie's Fanga dancer, seen to the left and right. In the Beacon journal photograph, we can't tell if any are
holding a slit drum, since all are facing away from the
camera. All are clothed of course, while, as we have noted, Ldamie abstracted his figures, most often portraying them as nudes.
Ldamie's figure here is more fully dressed, which I believe is his way of showing a higher level of respect; just as the women
wearing the leopard tooth necklace were always more fully clothed.
Now compare the photograph with the back view of
Ldamie's Fanga dancer seen to the right. The portrayal of the back piece is a very close to actual garment.
I view this
work as Ldamie's masterpiece. It is both masterfully crafted, and a unique object among his entire body of work. While I have
located nearly 100 of his sculptures, shown in these galleries, I have found nothing that compares, although Figure 007004,
"Woman with a Leopard Tooth Necklace" (further to the left in this gallery, which father also collected), makes a nice companion
piece.
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Photograph by The Akron Beacon Journal
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Figure 007006
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
male figure with slit drum; collected
1934-1935 by Walter Logan Fry; brass
(copper alloy); 10 11/16 in. (27.1 cm).
collection of William Logan Fry.
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