Family Group Along the Niger River
A monochromatic photograph depicting a family group of six individuals posed outdoors on an earthen surface. A seated adult male is positioned in the center, wearing a patterned cap with vertical decorative elements, a striped long-sleeved tunic, and holding a curved object with suspended filaments. He is flanked by two adult females; the woman on the left wears a fabric turban and a light-colored textile with a lattice pattern, while the woman on the right wears a striped fabric wrap and thick ivory ankle rings. Three bare-chested children are seated in the foreground, with the leftmost child wearing several concentric ring-like bands around the calves. The image, captured between 1886 and 1895 by Dr. William Henry Crosse for the Royal Niger Company, documents social dynamics and material culture along the Niger River.
Community Notes
Onyeka Nwokike
Oct 16, 2026
The photograph was originally cataloged as part of the Jones Collection due to handwriting on the storage box, but it was later reassigned to the Crosse Collection after the negative was matched to a known series. It is believed the image may have been donated to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology by Rev. Charles Henry Robinson, who utilized several of Crosse's photographs in his 1900 publication, Nigeria: Our Latest Protectorate.
Onyeka Nwokike
Oct 16, 2026
The subjects in this portrait are identified as being from the Igbo area along the Niger River. According to the Igbo Archives, the metallic concentric rings worn around the calves of the leftmost child are known as Nja.
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