The following four watercolours of Damara men and women probably all date to late June 1861 when Baines was based at Otjimbingwe shortly before he moved on in July to meet James Chapman on the route west to Windhoek and the interior. All appear to relate to the sitting at a cattle post south of Otjimbingwe he describes in Explorations in South-West Africa: 'June 27th. - I accompanied Mr Hutchinson on his morning visit to the cattle post, rather more than a mile south of the town. The kraal has been shifted several times, as everything in contact with lung-sick cattle seems to retain the infection; and five or six invalids, known by their peculiar cough, were now enclosed in it. Fortunately the disease, though it completely corodes the lung, does not injure the flesh, and the beef at our table would not suffer by comparison with the average English meat. ... Hutchinson shot a steinbok as we returned, and during the forenoon a number of Damaras came in from the Kraal to sit for their likenesses. The men are of moderate height, and generally well made, of a rich dark brown, like the Kafir, and their hair is generally straightened out, and matted into strands, three or more inches long, with fat and red clay. Their dress consists of from fifty to eighty fathoms of thin leather thongs coiled round the hips, and a small piece of skin between the legs, with the ends brought up and tucked fore and aft into the cord. Beads, iron rings, strips of tin or brass, &c., are used for ornaments; and, if the weaver be rich enough to afford it, in the hair over the centre of the forehead a cockle-shell is worn ... The costume of the women is still more singular. Strings of beads, either of glass or iron, or from the ostrich egg-shell, are hung round their necks and hips, the latter being enriched by a broad loose belt, with pieces of shell or white beads worked on it. Their anklets are formed of iron strung upon leather thongs and tied round one above another, the lowest falling over the heel and instep, while iron in various forms is profusely used, either as rings for the arms and wrists or beads to decorate the body. But the most curious portion of their attire is the headdress, which consists of a stout leather skull cap with three ears of the same material affixed to it, one on each side and one behind, nicely rounded, hollowed and stiffened, and finally polished with grease and red clay. Bands of course shells are generally laid round the cap, and the soft leather attached to the front is generally rolled up, so that crossing the forehead it falls down on either shoulder. Behind is a broad tail or fall, two or three feet long and six or eight inches wide, composed of short tubes of tin strung upon leather thongs, and then stretched side by side upon the binding piece, the ends of which are cut into a fringe. The children wear only a girdle with a fringe in front, the length varying according to fancy and the amount of skin in the parents' hands.' (T. Baines, Explorations in South-West Africa, London, 1864, pp. 44-7)
Thomas Baines (1820-1875)
Damara Men and Women at a Cattle Post
細節
Thomas Baines (1820-1875)
Damara Men and Women at a Cattle Post
signed and dated 'Damara/men & women/June 27 1861/T Baines'
pencil and watercolour heightened with white
10 x 14in. (25.4 x 35.6cm.)
Damara Men and Women at a Cattle Post
signed and dated 'Damara/men & women/June 27 1861/T Baines'
pencil and watercolour heightened with white
10 x 14in. (25.4 x 35.6cm.)
來源
Charles John Andersson (1827-1867) and by descent to the present owner.