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Jean Brown Collection of Pokot
Material Culture
In the early 1970s, Dr. Jean Brown, ethnographer
of the National Museum of Kenya and former assistant to Dr. L.S.B. Leakey,
collected items for the MSU Museum that represent the material culture of
the Kurut or Agricultural Pokot in the area of the Great Rift Valley. Among
the research objectives of the project was the study of technological processes
involved in the manufacture of artifacts: metalsmithing, potting, woodworking,
basketry and housebuilding. The study yielded hundreds of artifacts, along
with documentary photographs and audio recordings of the Pokot culture.
Included in the collection are outstanding examples of basketry: a baby
feeding bottle, toy sword and shield used by boys to practice fighting,
a fish trap, and food gathering and preparation containers.
Collectors/Fieldworkers/Donors:
Jean Brown
Related Collections:
Cernyw and Morna Kline Collection of African Material
Culture
Exhibitions:
"African Connections: Perspectives on Collecting Culture," Michigan State
University Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, Jan. 31, 1999 - Sept. 5, 1999.
[see Raymond Silverman, http://museum.msu.edu/Exhibitions/Virtual/AfCon/
(28 March 1999) for more information on collectors of African material
for MSU Museum]
"Expressions of Africa: Selections from the Museum Collections of Michigan
State University, " Kresge Art Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, September
19-December 15, 1989.
Publications:
Raymond A. Silverman. "African Connections Perspectives on Collecting Culture,"
[virtual exhibition] http://museum.msu.edu/Exhibitions/Virtual/AfCon/
Raymond A. Silverman. Expressions of Africa: Selections from the Museum
Collections of Michigan State University. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan
State University Museum with Kresge Art Museum and African Studies Center,
1989.
--compiled by Raymond Silverman and Lynne Swanson, 2005.
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