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This gallery includes twelve collectors of the art of Ldamie. Eleven traveled to Liberia, and ten of those lived and worked in Liberia.
Of the eleven that have traveled to Liberia, only two can be classified as tourists: John Oliver La Gorce and Alfred J. Tulk. Seven of the eleven collectors not only lived in Liberia, but were primarily in the country for long-term employment purposes. Collecting was essentially a personal venture undertaken in their available free time. This group of collectors included Rudolf Fuszek, John Gant, Walter Wilson, Sidney de la Rue, Charles T. Bussell, George Way Harley and Walter Logan Fry. An eighth can be added. Etta Becker-Donner was not in Liberia as a tourist or solely for the purpose of collection; but for anthropological study.
To these ten can be added William Siegmann, a museum professional for whom collecting was a primary activity. I include myself as the twelfth member of the group of collectors, since when the work I have collected is added to the work collected by my father, it constitutes the largest collection of the work of Ldamie in the world.
It cannot be stressed too strongly that ten of the twelve most prolific collectors of the work of Ldamie were definitely not tourists, by any modern understanding of the term.
Given that understanding, we still do not know exactly how these collectors acquired their art, myself excluded, of course. In her essay in Iowa Studies in African Art, Volume II (1987), Note 3, p. 57, Barbara Johnson related that Alfred J. Tulk acquired three works made by brass caster, Bwayen (Bwaiwehn) from
". . . District Commissioner George Dunbar, who collected them from village chiefs in lieu of hut taxes." Of all the objects she studied, these were the only ones she indicated as having been collected, in the first instance, by village
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chiefs or Liberian government officials. William Siegmann, however, may have also acquired his work from such sources.
What of the others?
We know from a close reading The Messages of Tourist Art by Bennett Jules-Rosette, that there are many pathways by which collectors obtain the work of African artists, and one is by direct purchase from the artist himself. Such was the case with Etta Becker-Donner. It does not seem likely that the five collectors who collected five or more objects (Alfred J. Tulk being excluded) visited village chiefs or government offices to find their acquisitions. I submit that it is more likely that a majority of these collectors either sought out the artist in his workshop and home village, or even more likely, that the artist came to them to present his work for purchase. Firestone's headquarters at the Du or George Harley's mission would have been likely places to do so; and such would seem to be the case with my father, who traveled upriver to make his purchases. I believe that it was at the Firestone Plantation headquarters that he did so. Note that the picture of Ldamie in my father's collection of photographs seems to be at the Du, rather than the village in which Ldamie lived.
An important note about the collectors. All were persons of considerable accomplishment, holding important business, governmental and societal positions. And with a few exceptions, all tended to purchase five, six or seven works (my father acquired seven, one of which has been lost). This evidences a fondness for Ldamie's work or, in other words, a perception of his work as being worthy of their attention and acquisition.
The conclusion I reach is that the majority of collectors were not purchasing as tourists, but as collectors of art; and that it is more likely than not that they purchased directly from Ldamie.
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Rudolph Fuszek
Collected by Rudolf Fuszek.
Fuszek came to Monrovia, Liberia in 1913, and later became Liberia's first Director of the Bureau of National Public Health and Sanitation, serving from 1930 to 1940. In addition to his medical practice, he compiled a valuable ethnographic collection, which he donated to the Neprájzi Múzeum (Museum of Ethnography) of Budapest in 1937.
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Figure 012002
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People /
Liberia; male figure urinating
water; collected before 1939
by Dr. Rudolf Fuszek; brass
(copper alloy); 9 1/16 in. (23 cm);
Etta Becker-Donner "Kunst und
Handwerk in NO-Liberia"; p. 50.
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Figure 012003
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People /
Liberia; male figure with drum;
collected before 1939 by
Dr. Rudolf Fuszek; brass
(copper alloy); 7 11/16 in. (19.5 cm);
Etta Becker-Donner "Kunst und
Handwerk in NO-Liberia"; p. 51.
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Figure 012006
Artist: Duane Yibay /
Liberia; male figure on stilts;
collected before 1939 by
Dr. Rudolf Fuszek; brass
(copper alloy); Etta Becker-
Donner "Kunst und Handwerk
in NO-Liberia"; p. 51.
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John Gant
Collected by John Gant,
Firestone Tire & Rubber
Employee at the Firestone
Rubber Plantation in Liberia
between 1920 and 1928
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Figure 011001
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
female figure with staff; collected
between 1920 and 1928 by Firestone
Plantation employee, John Gant; brass
(copper alloy); 8 in. (20.3 cm). Indianapolis
Museum of Art; Gift of Mr. and Mrs.
Harrison Eiteljorg; No. 1989-335.
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| John Oliver La Gorce
Collected by John Oliver La Gorce, former President of
National Geographic Society, 1928 or earlier
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Figure 005001
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
female figure winnowing rice; collected
before 1928; brass (copper alloy); 8 1/4 in.
(21 cm); gift of John Oliver La Gorce Estate;
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural
History; No. E398838.
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Walter Wilson
Collected by Walter Wilson, Firestone Tire & Rubber
Employee at the Firestone Rubber Plantation in Liberia prior
to 1930
Wilson's assignment in Liberia was to develop a hybrid
rubber tree which would yield higher and better production
of latex. |
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Figure 013010
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
crocodile; collected 1926-30 by Walter Wilson;
brass (copper alloy); 1-15/16 x 1-9/16 x 11-7/16 in
(5 x 4 x 29 cm); Brooklyn Museum;
No. 2012.75.7; Gift of Tom and Anna Boyle
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Figure 013007a
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
male figure with drum; collected
1926-30 by Walter Wilson;
brass (copper alloy); 8 11/16 x 3 1/8 x 3 3/8 in.
(22 x 8 x 8.5 cm); Brooklyn Museum;
No. 2012.75.8; Gift of Tom and Anna Boyle
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Figure 013007b
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
male figure with drum; collected
1926-30 by Walter Wilson;
brass (copper alloy); 8 11/16 x 3 1/8 x 3 3/8 in.
(22 x 8 x 8.5 cm); Brooklyn Museum;
No. 2012.75.8; Gift of Tom and Anna Boyle
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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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Figure 013006
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People, Liberia;
slave trader with bound slave; collected
1926-30 by Walter Wilson, employee
the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., Liberia
brass (copper alloy); Brooklyn Museum
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Figure 013005
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People, Liberia;
man holding unknown objects; collected
1926-30 by Walter Wilson, employee
the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., Liberia
brass (copper alloy); Brooklyn Museum
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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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Figure 013009
Artist: possible Ldamie; Dan People, Liberia;
horse and horseman; collected
1926-30 by Walter Wilson, employee
the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., Liberia
brass (copper alloy); Brooklyn Museum
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Sidney de la Rue
Collected by Sidney de
la Rue, American Financial Advisor to Liberia's President
Charles Dunbar Burgess King.
Sidney de la Rue left Liberia in 1929 by reason of
illness.
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Figure 002002
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
male figure with drum; collected
before 1935 by Sidney De La Rue;
brass (copper alloy); 8 in. (20 cm);
American Museum of Natural History;
Gift of Sidney De La Rue; No. 90.2/3387
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Figure 002002
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
male figure with drum; collected
before 1935 by Sidney De La Rue;
brass (copper alloy); 8 in. (20 cm);
American Museum of Natural History;
Gift of Sidney De La Rue; No. 90.2/3387
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Figure 002003
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
male figure with drum; collected
before 1935 by Sidney De La Rue;
brass (copper alloy); American
Museum of Natural History; Gift of
Sidney De La Rue; No. 90.2/3386
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Figure 002001
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
female figure with ax; collected
before 1935 by Sidney De La Rue;
brass (copper alloy); 9 1/16 in. (22.7 cm);
American Museum of Natural History;
Gift of Sidney De La Rue; No. 90.2/3385
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Figure 002004
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
seated male figure with drum; collected
before 1935 by Sidney De La Rue;
brass (copper alloy); American
Museum of Natural History; Gift of
Sidney De La Rue; No. 90.2/3458.
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Conrad T. Bussell
Collected by Conrad T. Bussell, prior to 1930.
Bussell was General Receiver of Customs in Monrovia, and
later Deputy Financial Officer to Liberian President Charles
Dunbar Burgess King. Bussell helped negotiate the agreement
with President King, Harvey S. Firestone, Jr., Sidney de la
Rue, and the U.S. government, to establish Firestone's large
rubber plantation in Liberia. |
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Figure 003004
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
Female Figure Holding a Knife; collected
1929 or earlier by Conrad T. Bussell; brass
(copper alloy); 6.8 in. (17.3 cm). Baltimore
Museum of Art; Gift of Catherine and
Robert B. Bussell; BMA 1998:446.
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Figure 003005
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
Female Figure; collected 1929 or earlier
by Conrad T. Bussell; brass (copper alloy);
8.39 in. (21.3 cm). Baltimore Museum
of Art; Gift of Catherine and Robert B.
Bussell; BMA 1998:445.
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Figure 003001
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
female figure carrying water; collected
1929 or earlier; brass (copper alloy); xx in.
(xx cm). Baltimore Museum of Art;
Gift of Catherine and Robert B. Bussell;
BMA 1998:447.
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Figure 003002
Artist: Attributed to Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
male figure with drum; collected 1929 or earlier by
Conrad T. Bussell; brass (copper alloy); (20.8 x 8 x 6
cm)
8 3/16 x 3 5/32 x 2 23/64 in; Baltimore Museum of Art;
No. 1998.444; Gift of Catherine and Robert B. Bussell
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Figure 003003
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
Kneeling Male Figure Missing Lower Arm;
collected 1929 or earlier by Conrad T.
Bussell; brass (copper alloy); 4.3 in. (11 cm).
Baltimore Museum of Art; Gift of Catherine
and Robert B. Bussell; BMA 1998:450.
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Figure 003006
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
Male Figure Blowing a Horn; collected
1929 or earlier by Conrad T. Bussell; brass
(copper alloy); 6.7 in. (17 cm). Baltimore
Museum of Art; Gift of Catherine and
Robert B. Bussell; BMA 1998:448.
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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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Alfred J. Tulk
Collected by Alfred J. Tulk.
Born in London in 1899. he moved his family to the United States, where, in 1923, he earned a degree in studio art from Yale University. In 1931, at the invitation of Yale classmate, George W. Harley, he and his family left for Liberia, where they spent 18 months at the Methodist mission in Ganta. He returned to the US in 1933 with a cache of African artifacts, including masks, statues and household items.
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Figure 004003
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People /
Liberia; male figure with pipe
and matches; collected in 1933-34
by Alfred Tulk; brass (copper
alloy); 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm);
San Francisco Museum of Fine
Arts; Gift of Robert and Barbara
Johnson; No. 1996.192.
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Figure 008001
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People /
Liberia; blacksmith; collected
in 1932-33 by Alfred Tulk;
brass (copper alloy); 6 5/16 in.
(16 cm); private collection.
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Figure 004002
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People /
Liberia; female figure with nitien;
collected 1933 by Alfred J. Tulk; brass
(copper alloy); 7 1/2 in. (19 cm);
San Francisco Museum of Fine
Arts; Gift of Robert and Barbara
Johnson; No. 1994.171.2.
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Figure 004001
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People /
Liberia; male figure with knife;
collected 1933 by Alfred J. Tulk;
brass (copper alloy); 7 5/16 in. (18.5 cm);
San Francisco Museum of Fine
Arts; Gift of Robert and Barbara
Johnson; No. 1994.171.1.
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Figure 004004
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
elephant; collected 1933 by Alfred J. Tulk;
brass (copper alloy); 4 3/4 x 12 1/2 x 2 1/2
(12.1 x 31.8 x 6.4 cm); San Francisco Museum
of Fine Arts; Gift of Robert and Barbara
Johnson; Accession No. 1995.90.3.
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George Way Harley
Collected by George W. Harley, Missionary.
In 1925, Harley founded and developed a Methodist mission in
Ganta, in the interior of Liberia, where he remained until
1960, aside from vacations. He is known for the great number
of masks and other art and handwerk that he collected and
sold to Peabody Museum, Cambridge. Others are now found in
museums around the country. |
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Figure 001004
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
blacksmith; collected 1932
or before by George W. Harley;
brass (copper alloy); 6 1/8 in. (15.4 cm);
Sold to Peabody Museum of Natural
History (Cambridge) by George W.
Harley; No. 32-49-50/49.
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Figure 001003
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia; three
trumpeteers; collected 1932 or before by
George W. Harley; brass (copper alloy);
5 5/16 in. (13.5 cm); sold to Peabody Museum
of Natural History (Cambridge) by George W.
Harley ; No. 32-49-50/50.
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Figure 001001
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
male figure with cane; collected
in 1930 or before by George W. Harley; brass
(copper alloy); 8 1/4 in. (21 cm); Sold to Peabody
Museum of Natural History (Cambridge)
by George W. Harley; No. 30-36-50/B4850.
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Figure 014001
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
female figure winnowing rice; collected
by George Way Harley; brass
(copper alloy); 6 1/2 x 2 3/4 x 3 9/16 in (16.5 x 7 x 9
cm); Nasher Museum of Art
Object no. L.2.1974.116
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Figure 014002
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
crocodile; collected by George Way Harley;
brass (copper alloy); 1 1/2 x 14 1/2 x 1 1/2 in
(3.8 x 36.8 x 3.8 cm); Nasher Museum of Art;
Object no: L.2.1974.115
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Walter Logan Fry
Collected by Walter Logan Fry, Cashier, Bank of
Monrovia, Monrovia, Liberia, 1934-35. His assignment
included auditing the work of the twelve bookkeepers and
clerks; balancing the foreign exchange accounts;
transferring funds by cable between Firestone's New York and
London accounts.
His collection of six Ldamie figures was later expanded by
his son, William Logan Fry, who added three more. |
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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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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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Figure 007003
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
female figure with machete; collected
1934-1935 by Walter Logan Fry; brass
(copper alloy); 8 in. (20.2 cm).
collection of William 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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Figure 007005
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
male figure with cane; collected
1934-1935 by Walter Logan Fry;
brass (copper alloy); 7 9/16 in.
(19.1 cm). collection of
William Logan Fry.
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Figure 007006-a
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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Figure 007006-b
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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Etta Becker-Donner
Collected by Etta Becker-Donner. Etta Donner was born in Vienna December 5, 1922. She studied ethnology and African linguistics at the University of Vienna. In 1934, Donner, then 22 years old, made her first trip to Liberia. She traveled alone, accompanied only by local guides and friends. She returned for further field work in 1936 - 1937. Among her writings was Kunst und Handwork in NO-Liberia (Arts and Crafts in Northeast Liberia) (Berlin 1939).
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Figure 012004
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People /
Liberia; female figure with
baby; collected in 1934-35 by
Etta Becker-Donner; brass
(copper alloy); Etta Becker-
Donner "Kunst und Handwerk
in NO-Liberia"; p. 49.
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Figure 012005
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People /
Liberia; female figure with
baby; collected in 1936-37 by
Etta Becker-Donner; brass
(copper alloy); Etta Becker-
Donner "Kunst und Handwerk
in NO-Liberia"; p. 49.
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Figure 017001
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People /
Liberia; female figure with
baby; collected in 1936 by
Etta Becker-Donner; brass
(copper alloy);
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Ident No.: | | | C 35856
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Figure 012001
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
female figure carrying water; collected
1934-35; brass (copper alloy); 8 7/16 in.
(21.5 cm); Etta Becker-Donner "Kunst
und Handwerk in NO-Liberia"; p. 50.
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Figure 017002
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
female figure carrying water;
8 7/16 in. (21.7 cm) collected in 1936
by Etta Becker-Donner;
brass (copper alloy);
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Ident No.: | | | C 35857
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Figure 018002
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
male figure with bound hands; collected
prior to 1936 by Etta Becker-Donner;
brass (copper alloy); collection of
Welt Museum Wien, Inv. No. 126145
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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), unfinished with sprues attached
Weltmueum Wien Inv. No. 126144
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William Siegmann
Collected by William Siegmann.
William C. Siegmann had a long, distinguished career in studying and collecting art in Liberia. He served as curator or director of Africana Museum, Liberia, Museum of the Society of African Missions, and Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. While curator at Brooklyn Museum from 1987 to 2007, Siegmann acquired over 1600 objects.
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Figure 020001
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
female figure with machete; collected by
William Siegmann; brass (copper alloy);
7 3/4 in. (19.69 cm); collection of
Yale Art Gallery. Accession No. 2016.119.21
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Figure 022001
Artist: Ldamie, Dan People / Liberia;
(attributed to Kran, We culture on site)
standing female figure; brass (copper alloy);
Purchase from William Siegmann; African
Art Museum of the SMA Fathers;
AHDRC Search No: 0158728
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William Logan Fry
Collected by William Logan Fry.
William Logan Fry is a lawyer, farmer, weaver, digital artist, founder of The Digital Museum of Modern Art and filmmaker. He curates The Walter Logan Fry Collection of African Art; and followed in his father's footsteps in collecting the work of Ldamie.
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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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Figure 009001
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
acrobats; collected in 1962 by
Paolo Morigi; brass (copper alloy);
11 in. (28.5 cm). Collection of
William Logan Fry
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Figure 009003
Artist: Ldamie; Dan People / Liberia;
elephant; collected early 2000s by
Dr. Christopher Steiner; brass (copper
alloy); 3 1/2 in. (9 cm); collection of
William Logan Fry
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