Portrait of a Woman Seated on a Bentwood Chair

The photograph is part of the Crosse Collection, with the negative originally located in a box later associated with the handwriting of G.I. Jones. According to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge, the images may have been donated by Rev. Charles Henry Robinson, who utilized several of Crosse's photographs in his 1900 publication, Nigeria: Our Latest Protectorate.

The patterned abdominal scarification seen on the subject is a practice known as Ude, which is common among the Esan people of south-south Nigeria. As detailed in a prospective analysis on the practice, these markings are deep-rooted in the culture and are sometimes historically associated with the treatment of abdominal swelling, such as splenomegaly.

This image was captured during the operational era of the Royal Niger Company (RNC), which worked to establish control over the Nigerian interior between 1879 and 1900. Research from the University of Benin indicates that the British occupation of Esanland was part of a broader conquest that culminated in the revocation of the RNC's royal charter in 1899 and the subsequent transfer of company territories to the British Government on January 1, 1900.