BARTER GOODS [HONGO] A woven textile with chequered design in red, yellow and black, 180 x 24in. (457.2 x 60.9cm.) the length of a doti pinned with an old label inscribed 'Combisa Mpunga H 21.0 per Korjah'; together with a Central African bead necklace, strung with ovoid bone beads, red glass beads and faceted blue beads, with attached label inscribed by Lady Stanley 'my Beloved Husband -Henry M. Stanley brought this necklace from Central Africa- He thought the beads were very ancient- The colored beads - probably came to the natives from Portugese Traders- I have put this label on the year of my sorrow - 1904'. The textile may have been part of Stanley's supply of 'hongo', the toll that had to be paid for an expedition to be granted safe passage. 'Cloth, beads and wire were the staples of African commerce and thus indispensable to every explorer venturing into the interior. The cloths used for bartering came from various sources of unbleached cottons sheeting from the United States (merikani); indigo dyed cloth from India (kaniki); red and blue check cloth (kisuto); coloured blankets (blanketi); and various patterned fabrics... These would all be made up into bolsters about 5 ft long and 18-24in. across, straightened with branches... Payment of tribute or for food was measured in units of cloth. A doti was 4 yds of cloth. A sheep wool cost 2½ doti (10yds)... there were more than 400 varieties of beads used as a medium of exchange... Sami sami (red), mad Schibahari (blue) and aschanga meupe (white). Also in demand were ukuta, a blue glass Paris bead the size of a pea...' (F. McLynn, Hearts of Darkness , London, 1992, pp. 138-9). (2)
BARTER GOODS [HONGO] A woven textile with chequered design in red, yellow and black, 180 x 24in. (457.2 x 60.9cm.) the length of a doti pinned with an old label inscribed 'Combisa Mpunga H 21.0 per Korjah'; together with a Central African bead necklace, strung with ovoid bone beads, red glass beads and faceted blue beads, with attached label inscribed by Lady Stanley 'my Beloved Husband -Henry M. Stanley brought this necklace from Central Africa- He thought the beads were very ancient- The colored beads - probably came to the natives from Portugese Traders- I have put this label on the year of my sorrow - 1904'. The textile may have been part of Stanley's supply of 'hongo', the toll that had to be paid for an expedition to be granted safe passage. 'Cloth, beads and wire were the staples of African commerce and thus indispensable to every explorer venturing into the interior. The cloths used for bartering came from various sources of unbleached cottons sheeting from the United States (merikani); indigo dyed cloth from India (kaniki); red and blue check cloth (kisuto); coloured blankets (blanketi); and various patterned fabrics... These would all be made up into bolsters about 5 ft long and 18-24in. across, straightened with branches... Payment of tribute or for food was measured in units of cloth. A doti was 4 yds of cloth. A sheep wool cost 2½ doti (10yds)... there were more than 400 varieties of beads used as a medium of exchange... Sami sami (red), mad Schibahari (blue) and aschanga meupe (white). Also in demand were ukuta, a blue glass Paris bead the size of a pea...' (F. McLynn, Hearts of Darkness , London, 1992, pp. 138-9). (2)
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
