Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
Ann O'Hear Collection
O'Hear, Ann
EEPA.2016-004
Archival Resource Key
34 Slides (photographs)
color
35 mm
2 Digital images
1980-2015
Photographs taken by Ann O'Hear of leatherworking and pottery technology in Ilorin, Nigeria, from 1980 to 2015.
English
.
Arrangement
Images arranged in two series:
- Series 1: Leatherworking in Ilorin, 1985-1989 (15 slides)
- Series 2: Pottery Technology in Ilorin, 1980-2015 (29 slides, 2 digital images)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection digitized and available online. Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Scope and Contents
The collection includes photographs taken by Ann O'Hear of leatherworking and pottery technology in Ilorin, Nigeria, from 1980 to 2015.
Images in Series 1 (Leatherworking in Ilorin) depict a saddle, including details of tooling, bridle, triangular decorations for horses, Alh. Imam Idiaro weaving and cutting out a template for use on saddle blankets, and a horse in ceremonial trappings waiting to welcome the Emir of Ilorin, Alh. Sulu Gambari, on his return from a trip abroad. Photographs were taken in Ilorin, including in the areas of Ile Onigaari and Balogun Alanamu.
Series 2 (Pottery Technology in Ilorin) includes images of potters, including Madam Fatimoh, constructing pots at the Ebu Dada pottery center, and in Ile Babaoye, Okelele, and Ile Mulabi, Ilorin.
Preferred Citation
Ann O'Hear Collection, EEPA 2016-004, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Ann O'Hear, 2016.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Processing Information
Titles and notes provided by Ann O'Hear.
Slides digitized in 2019.
Related Materials
Additional archival and art collections by Ann O'Hear are held at the following locations:
Ann O'Hear Collection: Research on Master Weaver Yahaya Kalu Olabintan of Ilorin. A digital collection including an introduction, a research note with bibliographical references, images with captions, and an appendix, deposited in the National Museum of African Art Library, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
The Dr. Ann O'Hear Archive, The Hull History Centre. An annotated collection of articles, books, interviews, research notes, correspondence, archival materials, etc., on slavery and related subjects.
The Ann O'Hear Collection, Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM), Exeter. A collection of lantana beads from Ilorin (Nigeria).
"Additions to the Lovejoy-Adesiyun Collection." A digital collection including interviews, a research note, images, etc., Harriet Tubman Resource Centre, Harriet Tubman Institute, York University, Toronto, Canada. See
http://digital.tubmaninstitute.ca/collections/show/11.
The O'Hear Collection of West African textiles, presented to ULITA—An Archive of International Textiles (University of Leeds). Handwoven cloths, dyed cloths, mostly Nigerian, collected by Ann and Hugh O'Hear, 1960s-1980s.
Biographical / Historical
Ann O'Hear is a professor specializing in Nigerian material culture. Following graduation from college, she worked as a graduate volunteer teacher in Nigeria (1965‒1967) and in 1969 received an MA in African Studies from the Centre of West African Studies, University of Birmingham, UK. In 1976, she returned to Nigeria and worked as a lecturer at the Kwara State College of Technology, Ilorin, and researched the economic history of Ilorin. Studying under Professor J. D. Fage, she received her Ph.D. in History/African Studies in 1984 from the University of Birmingham. She left Kwara State College of Technology in 1985, and moved to America, where she became Coordinator of Intercultural Studies at Niagara University. She also worked in publishing, including as co-editor of the African Economic History journal. She authored the book Power Relations in Nigeria: Ilorin Slaves and Their Successors (1997), edited a new edition of Letters from Nigeria, 1899‒1900 of David Wynford Carnegie (1992), and has published numerous articles.
Leatherwork
Pottery
Weaving
Blacksmithing
Hides and skins
Africa
Nigeria
Color slides
Digital images
Potters
Yoruba (African people)
Leatherworking in Ilorin
Series 1
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
36 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1985-1989
Nigeria
Alh. Abdullahi Abdul-Salami, Imam Idiaro, of Ile Onigaari, Balogun Alanamu Ward, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0001
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1988
Alh. Abdullahi Abdul-Salami, Imam Idiaro, of Ile Onigaari, Balogun Alanamu Ward, Ilorin
Scope and Contents
Imam Idiaro was a leatherworker and Ann O'Hear's most important informant on leatherworking in Ilorin. In 1988, he was an imam and ran an Arabic school (in which he is standing in the photograph). The office of imam for the immediate area passes down through the male members of Ile Onigaari. The name of the compound translates from Yoruba as "saddlemakers' compound" and it has had close connections with the horseowning warrior elite. Although the compound had been important for leatherworking, by 1988 it would appear that no one there was still engaged in the craft.
Nigeria
Saddle (gaari), Ile Balogun Alanamu's compound, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0002
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1985
Saddle (gaari), Ile Balogun Alanamu's compound, Ilorin
Scope and Contents
Alh. Imam Idiaro took Ann O'Hear to Ile Balogun Alanamu to view an old saddle (gaari) and other items, which had been made in Ile Onigaari and apparently mostly by Alh. Imam Idiaro himself. The photograph shows the high pommel and cantle of the saddle, following the usual type of saddle that was used in West Africa, reaching Yorubaland from the north. Indeed, Alh. Imam Idiaro tells a story that his ancestors learned their craft from the north, although they came originally from Old Oyo. The photograph also shows that cloth was used (rather than leather) to secure the stirrups to the saddle. The cloth used is ẹtu ("guineafowl cloth"), a type of cloth that was woven in the area around Ile Onigaari.
Nigeria
Saddle (gaari), Ile Balogun Alanamu's compound, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0003
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1985
Saddle (gaari), Ile Balogun Alanamu's compound, Ilorin
Nigeria
Saddle (gaari), detail of padded underpart, Ile Balogun Alanamu's compound, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0004
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1985
Saddle (gaari), detail of padded underpart, Ile Balogun Alanamu's compound, Ilorin
Nigeria
Triangular decorations (paro) for horses, Ile Balogun Alanamu's compound, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0005
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1985
Triangular decorations (paro) for horses, Ile Balogun Alanamu's compound, Ilorin
Scope and Contents
Triangular decorations (paro) are meant to hang down on both sides of the horse's head. They feature a leather backing, with appliqué designs on the front in cloth, and are studded with what looks like brass. The appliqué designs involve a variety of geometrical shapes. They are very similar to those called, in Hausaland, layun doki, which supports the suggestion of a strong northern influence on the leatherworkers of Ile Onigaari.
Nigeria
Close-up of a triangular decoration (paro), Ile Balogun Alanamu's compound, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0006
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1985
Close-up of a triangular decoration (paro), Ile Balogun Alanamu's compound, Ilorin
Nigeria
Alh. Imam Idiaro cutting out a template for a design used on saddle blankets (iteyin), and on saddle cushions and pouffes (tim-tim), Ile Onigaari
EEPA 2016-004-0007
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1988
Alh. Imam Idiaro cutting out a template for a design used on saddle blankets (iteyin), and on saddle cushions and pouffes (tim-tim), Ile Onigaari
Scope and Contents
Alh. Imam Idiaro called the motif "koronu" (a word presumably derived from "crown").
Nigeria
Templates for a design (koronu) to be used on cushions and saddle blankets cut out by Alh. Imam Idiaro in 1988
EEPA 2016-004-0008
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1989
Templates for a design (koronu) to be used on cushions and saddle blankets cut out by Alh. Imam Idiaro in 1988
Nigeria
Alh. Imam Idiaro weaving, Ile Atoti compound, near Ile Onigaari
EEPA 2016-004-0009
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1988
Alh. Imam Idiaro weaving, Ile Atoti compound, near Ile Onigaari
Scope and Contents
Ile Atoti, a compound near Ile Onigaari, specialized both in dyeing leather and in weaving etu ("guineafowl cloth"). Such cloth was used extensively in the horse trappings produced in Ile Onigaari.
Nigeria
Old saddle made in Ile Onigaari, detail of girth (majayi), Ile Balogun Alanamu
EEPA 2016-004-0010
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1985
Old saddle made in Ile Onigaari, detail of girth (majayi), Ile Balogun Alanamu
Scope and Contents
This photograph of the old saddle made in Ile Onigaari and photographed in Ile Balogun Alanamu shows the girth (majayi--a Hausa term), which is made of coconut fiber covered with cloth, apparently two strips of ẹtu ("guineafowl cloth"), a type of cloth that was woven in the area around Ile Onigaari.
Nigeria
Old saddle made in Ile Onigaari, detail of crupper (ikodi), Ile Balogun Alanamu
EEPA 2016-004-0011
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1985
Old saddle made in Ile Onigaari, detail of crupper (ikodi), Ile Balogun Alanamu
Scope and Contents
This photograph of the old saddle (ikodi) made in Ile Onigaari and photographed in Ile Balogun Alanamu shows the crupper (ikodi), which is made up of many strips of ẹtu ("guineafowl cloth"), a type of cloth that was woven in the area around Ile Onigaari.
Nigeria
Bridle (ijanu) made of brass, for use with the old saddle made in Ile Onigaari, Ile Balogun Alanamu
EEPA 2016-004-0012
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1985
Bridle (ijanu) made of brass, for use with the old saddle made in Ile Onigaari, Ile Balogun Alanamu
Nigeria
Buckle (angoro) on the girth attached to the old saddle made in Ile Onigaari
EEPA 2016-004-0013
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1985
Buckle (angoro) on the girth attached to the old saddle made in Ile Onigaari
Scope and Contents
This photograph shows the buckle on the girth attached to the old saddle made in Ile Onigaari and photographed in Ile Balogun Alanamu. This buckle is called angoro (maybe a Hausa term?), and is made, like the stirrups (likafa) of a silvery metal, possibly silvered brass.
Nigeria
Horse in ceremonial trappings waiting on the road into the city to welcome the Emir of Ilorin, Alh. Sulu Gambari, on his return from a trip abroad
EEPA 2016-004-0014
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1988
Horse in ceremonial trappings waiting on the road into the city to welcome the Emir of Ilorin, Alh. Sulu Gambari, on his return from a trip abroad
Scope and Contents
The fact that only four horses could be mustered on this occasion demonstrates the great decline in horse keeping in Ilorin, which is reflected in the equally great decline in the numbers of leatherworkers in the twentieth century.
Nigeria
Horse in ceremonial trappings waiting on the road into the city to welcome the Emir of Ilorin, Alh. Sulu Gambari, on his return from a trip abroad
EEPA 2016-004-0015
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1988
Horse in ceremonial trappings waiting on the road into the city to welcome the Emir of Ilorin, Alh. Sulu Gambari, on his return from a trip abroad
Scope and Contents
The fact that only four horses could be mustered on this occasion demonstrates the great decline in horse keeping in Ilorin, which is reflected in the equally great decline in the numbers of leatherworkers in the twentieth century.
Nigeria
Pottery Technology in Ilorin
Series 2
Archival Resource Key
19 Slides (photographs)
2 Digital images
1980-2015
Clay pots at Ebu Dada pottery center, northern edge of Okelele district, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0016
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1980
Clay pots at Ebu Dada pottery center, northern edge of Okelele district, Ilorin
Scope and Contents
As of the 1980s, Ebu Dada was the largest pottery making site in Ilorin, where numerous potters gathered to make and fire their pots. In this photograph, Ilorin "red" pots, for water or other storage, with red slip added, are set out to dry. Pots in the background have not yet been treated with the red slip. Ilorin potters divide their products into "red" (pupa) and "black" (dudu) wares, the red including these large storage pots, and the "black" including soup pots with burnished designs, and pots for storing medicines and oils.
Nigeria
Pottery
Large clay red water pots drying, Ebu Dada pottery center, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0017
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1980
Large clay red water pots drying, Ebu Dada pottery center, Ilorin
Nigeria
Pottery
Young potter, using an old, inverted pot as a mold, beats out batt to make the base for a pot, Ebu Dada pottery center, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0018
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1980
Young potter, using an old, inverted pot as a mold, beats out batt to make the base for a pot, Ebu Dada pottery center, Ilorin
Scope and Contents
Process of making a large red storage pot. A ball of prepared clay mix has been beaten or trodden out into a "batt," or patty. Here, a young potter, using an old, inverted pot as a mold, beats out the batt to make the base for a pot.
Nigeria
Pottery
Woman constructing clay storage pot, removing the base after the batt (patty) has been beaten out over the mold, Ebu Dada pottery center, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0019
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1980
Woman constructing clay storage pot, removing the base after the batt (patty) has been beaten out over the mold, Ebu Dada pottery center, Ilorin
Scope and Contents
Process of making a large red storage pot. When the batt (patty) has been beaten out over the mold, the young potter removes the base carefully. It is then left to dry until sufficiently hardened.
Nigeria
Pottery
Potter constructing clay storage pot, beginning to build up sides using coiling method, Ebu Dada pottery center, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0020
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1980
Potter constructing clay storage pot, beginning to build up sides using coiling method, Ebu Dada pottery center, Ilorin
Nigeria
Pottery
Potter constructing clay storage pot, building up sides using coiling method, Ebu Dada pottery center, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0021
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1980
Potter constructing clay storage pot, building up sides using coiling method, Ebu Dada pottery center, Ilorin
Nigeria
Pottery
Potter constructing clay storage pot, adding the rim, Ebu Dada pottery center, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0022
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1980
Potter constructing clay storage pot, adding the rim, Ebu Dada pottery center, Ilorin
Nigeria
Pottery
Potter constructing clay storage pot, smoothing out the rim, Ebu Dada pottery center, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0023
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1980
Potter constructing clay storage pot, smoothing out the rim, Ebu Dada pottery center, Ilorin
Nigeria
Pottery
Madam Fatimoh, celebrated maker of small, decorative water coolers, joins two hemispherical molded pieces together with clay, to form the basic shape of a water cooler, Ile Babaoye, Okelele, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0024
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1982
Madam Fatimoh, celebrated maker of small, decorative water coolers, joins two hemispherical molded pieces together with clay, to form the basic shape of a water cooler, Ile Babaoye, Okelele, Ilorin
Nigeria
Pottery
Madam Fatimoh, having joined two hemispherical molded pieces together, smooths out the join, Ile Babaoye, Okelele, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0025
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1982
Madam Fatimoh, having joined two hemispherical molded pieces together, smooths out the join, Ile Babaoye, Okelele, Ilorin
Nigeria
Pottery
Small firing site, used to fire medicine pots, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0026
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1982
Small firing site, used to fire medicine pots, Ilorin
Scope and Contents
Firing is carried out by potters working in larger (as in Ebu Dada) or smaller groups, with pots piled into open "clamps." The firing is low-temperature, and firing times in the second half of the twentieth century were particularly short. The firing is economical and efficient, and the resulting pots can be transported over long distances without excessive breakages and used for cooking over an open fire.
Nigeria
Pottery
Medicine pot being fired and treated with a liquor made from locust-bean pods
EEPA 2016-004-0027
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1982
Medicine pot being fired and treated with a liquor made from locust-bean pods
Scope and Contents
A medicine pot being fired is treated with a liquor made from locust-bean pods, which gives it a bronze/brown color. This helps to seal the pot (which is to be used to store liquid medicines) and increase its strength. The locust-bean pods from which the liquor is made can be seen in the lower right of the picture.
Nigeria
Pottery
Small black soup pot, showing burnished designs on the inside, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0028
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Digital image
color
2015
Small black soup pot, showing burnished designs on the inside, Ilorin
Scope and Contents
Pot was purchased in Ilorin, circa 1989. Burnished designs have been rubbed into the pot before firing, and it has gone through a thorough carbonization and locust-bean pod liquor treatment, producing the black color. In the 1980s, it appeared that a complete carbonization/locust-bean-pod liquor treatment was routinely used only for black cooking pots, large and small, which need to be particularly strong and seepage proof.
Nigeria
Pottery
Small black soup pot, showing burnished designs on the inside, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0029
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Digital image
color
2015
Small black soup pot, showing burnished designs on the inside, Ilorin
Scope and Contents
Pot was purchased in Ilorin, circa 1989. Burnished designs have been rubbed into the pot before firing, and it has gone through a thorough carbonization and locust-bean pod liquor treatment, producing the black color. In the 1980s, it appeared that a complete carbonization/locust-bean-pod liquor treatment was routinely used only for black cooking pots, large and small, which need to be particularly strong and seepage proof.
Nigeria
Pottery
Elderly potter rolling prepared clay mix into a ball, which will then be beaten out into a batt, or patty, Ile Malubi, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0030
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1988
Elderly potter rolling prepared clay mix into a ball, which will then be beaten out into a batt, or patty, Ile Malubi, Ilorin
Nigeria
Pottery
Two young potters working, one of whom is forming a batt, or patty, into a small pot, using an old pot as a mold, Ile Mulubi, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0031
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1988
Two young potters working, one of whom is forming a batt, or patty, into a small pot, using an old pot as a mold, Ile Mulubi, Ilorin
Nigeria
Pottery
Potter coiling clay, a process by which the rim is added to the pot, Ile Malubi, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0032
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1988
Potter coiling clay, a process by which the rim is added to the pot, Ile Malubi, Ilorin
Nigeria
Pottery
Potter coiling clay, a process by which the rim is added to the pot, Ile Malubi, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0033
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1988
Potter coiling clay, a process by which the rim is added to the pot, Ile Malubi, Ilorin
Nigeria
Pottery
Potter smoothing rim of clay pot, Ile Malubi, Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0034
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1988
Potter smoothing rim of clay pot, Ile Malubi, Ilorin
Nigeria
Pottery
Potters gathering clay at clay pits, near Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0035
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1988
Potters gathering clay at clay pits, near Ilorin
Scope and Contents
Clay pits just outside the city of Ilorin, and close to Ebu Dada, the biggest pottery production center. Potters are seen gathering clay, to which they will add a decomposed quartz-schist (called wuyan by the potters), which is dug nearby, or, alternatively, sand. This coarse-textured mixture has the best consistency for the molding and coiling methods that are used by Ilorin potters.
Nigeria
Pottery
Man digging clay pit, near Ilorin
EEPA 2016-004-0036
Archival Resource Key
O'Hear, Ann
1 Slides (photographs)
color
35mm
1988
Man digging clay pit, near Ilorin
Scope and Contents
Clay pits just outside the city of Ilorin, and close to Ebu Dada, the biggest pottery production center.
Nigeria
Pottery