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William Mithoefer Collection of African Textiles

In 1991, William Mithoefer donated a collection of 95 African textiles to the MSU Museum. Included in the collection are more than 40 commemorative cloths (thirty of which are full-size kente cloths) from the Akan region of Ghana and Cote d’lvoire. The collection also includes clothing and textiles from Cameroon, Liberian, Senegal, Nigeria, Guinea, Upper Volta, Mali and Gabon. Mithoefer also donated a number of Mende masks from Sierra Leone, and an Akan wood carving of a royal procession made by artist Daniel Opare of Ghana.

Collectors/Fieldworker/Donors:
William Mithoefer

Realted Collections:
Ethiopian Material Culture Collection

Exhibitions:
"African Connections: Perspectives on Collection Culture," Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, January 31, 1999-September 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]

African Textiles from The MSU Museum Collections, Lansing Mall, Lansing, Michigan, February-May, 1997.

Publications:
Raymond A. Silverman. “African Connections Perspectives on Collecting Culture,” [virtual exhibition] http://museum.msu.edu/Exhibitions/Virtual/AfCon/ (Jan. 6, 2003)


--compiled by Raymond Silverman, Lynne Swanson, and Marsha MacDowell, 2005.


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