| Title |
Views in Zanzibar, circa 1900-1910 |
| Reference |
Y3047A |
| Creator |
A C Gomes and Sons; Unknown |
| Covering Dates |
circa 1900-circa 1910 |
| Extent and Medium |
74 images in 1 file; Prints are generally in good condition. |
|
| Content and context |
Contains loose prints by A.C. Gomes and Sons (unless otherwise specified) measuring approximately either 200 x 150 mm or 140 mm, and captioned on the reverse. Captions composed for this catalogue are enclosed in square brackets. Photographs show good views of the scenery, agriculture and races of Zanzibar. |
| Further information |
|
Indexed
This file is available on microfiche: Africa, fiche number 127.
|
| Index Terms |
| Africa |
| Tanzania |
| Zanzibar Island |
| A C Gomes and Sons |
| RCS/Fisher/Y3047A contains: |
|
1
|
Zanzibar, general view from the sea. 602 x 145 mm. Panoramic view composed of three joined prints. A view from the harbour looking south towards the waterfront of the Zanzibar Town. To the left of centre stands the Beit Al Ajeib ('House of Wonders') with the Sultan's Palace to the right. The Beit Al Ajeib was built for Seyyid Barghash, Sultan of Zanzibar 1870-1888, in 1883, for ceremonial rather than residential purposes. In 1886 when Sayyid Khalid briefly usurped the throne the waterfront was bombarded: the clocktower seen at the front of the building was erected to replace a lighthouse badly damaged during the bombardment. From 1911 the building housed government offices when the Sultan took up residence in Sir Lloyd William Mathews' old house next door. In the centre of the picture are the Old Consulate buildings, in use until 1874, when they were superseded by the building on the extreme right on Shangani Point called the Mambo Msiige. The Old Consulate of the period was used on the godown of Smith, Mackenzie and Co. On the skyline behind the waterfront the twin spires of the Roman Catholic Cathedral (built between 1897 and 1900) can be seen.
Good condition, slight retouching in sky.. |
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2
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Dhows in Port, Zanzibar. 201 x 149 mm. A view showing a crowded waterside scene at Zanzibar with rows of dhows moored in the foreground.
Good condition.. |
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3
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The Beach, Zanzibar. 201 x 152 mm. A view showing African labourers loading lighters for tranportation to the steamer at anchor in the harbour beyond.
Good condition.. |
|
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4
|
The Beach, Zanzibar. 212 x 151 mm. A duplicate of Y3047A/3.
Fair condition, slight fading.. |
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5
|
British Agency [Residency], Zanzibar. 201 x 150 mm. A view looking across the Residency garden towards the white crenellated building situated in the southern part of the town near the Victoria Gardens. The house was bilt for A.S. Rogers in 1903 for the designs of J.H. Sinclair.
Good condition.. |
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6
|
U.M.C.A. and Anglican Cathedral. 201 x 152 mm. A view looking across the garden of the old Headquarters of the Universities Mission to Central Africa towards the Anglican Cathedral Church of Christ. Built under the supervision of Bishop Steere (Bishop of Zanzibar 1874-1882), the cathedral stands on the site of the last slave market in Zanzibar and was completed in 1879.
Good condition.. |
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7
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An Arab door, Zanzibar. 150 x 201 mm. A view showing one of the massive and intricately carved doorways characteristic of the more wealthy Arab households.
Good condition.. |
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8
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Elephant tusks from the mainland and Arab door, Zanzibar. 150 x 201 mm. A view showing two Africans holding two large elephant tusks in front of an elaborately carved Arab door.
Good condition.. |
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9
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A street in Zanzibar. 150 x 211 mm. A view looking along a narrow unidentified commercial street in Zanzibar town with merchants shop signs hanging over the street.
Fair condition, slight fading and a tear in print.. |
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10
|
Livingstone's house, Zanzibar. 235 x 190 mm. A view showing the dilapidated three storey building lived in for some weks by Livingstone before setting out on his final expedition in 1866. Next to the house stand native houses of thatch and wattle. The building is situated on the northern side of the town east of the Creek on what was later Hollis Road. |
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11
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Ruins of the Marahubi Palace, Zanzibar. 201 x 150 mm. A view showing the ruined palace buildings with pillars and a stone pool in the foreground. The palace, which is situated about three miles north of Zanzibar Town, was built by Seyyid Barghash between 1880 and 1882 for the use of his harem but was accidentally destroyred by fire in 1899.
Good condition.. |
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12
|
Military lines at Ziwani [Pemba Island]. 202 x 152 mm. A view showing military buildings and quarters at Ziwani in the centre of Pemba Island.
Good condition.. |
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13
|
Old Portuguese fort on east coast of Africa. 213 x 150 mm. A view showing the ramparts of Fort Jesus, Mombasa from the sea.
Good condition.. |
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14
|
Bububu Station, Zanzibar. 240 x 190 mm. A view showing Africans loading produce on to the train on the narrow gauge railway at Bububu, five miles north of Zanzibar Town. Bububu is: 'the terminus of a dimunitive railway which plies six or seven times a day to Zanzibar Town. The service is most popular and useful, and is largely used by the native poplation. A special first-class coach is run for the benefit of those passengers from steamers who wish to obtain a glimpse of the island. The railway traverses some of the narrowest streets of the city, and it is a constant source of wonderment how pasers-by escape being run over. Europeans resident in Zanzibar regard the railway with an amused tolerance.' (Pearce 1920).
Good condition.. |
1910 |
|
15
|
A clove shamba. 239 x 189 mm. A view showing a shamba, or plantation, of clove trees. By the end of the nineeenth centry, due largely to the foresight of Seyyid Barghash in expanding the spice industry, Zanzibar and Pemba were prodicing nearly ninety percent of the world supply of cloves.
Good condition.. |
|
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16
|
Separating cloves from clove stems. 240 x 187 mm. A view showing a group of Swahili pickers seated on rush mats around apile of cloves. After the cloves have been separated from the stems they are placed on mats to dry in the sun (see next plate).
Good condition, apart from small tears along top and bottom right hand edges.. |
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17
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A drying ground in Pemba. 201 x 152 mm. A view showing women carrying sacks of cloves which are about to be spread on the mats in the foreground for drying.
Good condition.. |
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18
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A drying ground in Pemba. 237 x 190 mm. A view showing Swahili labourers gathering the drying piles of cloves on straw mats. The individual small mats allow the cloves to be taken indoors at sunset or at the approach of rain.
Good condition.. |
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19
|
Loading a dhow with cloves at Pemba. 239 x 190 mm. A view showing a line of workers carrying sacks of cloves towards a dhow lying in the mud of a tidal estuary at Chake Chake, Pemba Island.
Good condition.. |
1910 |
|
20
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A typical scene in the shambas, Zanzibar. 201 x 150 mm. A view looking a long a path towards a coconut shamba (plantation) with thatched native huts in the foreground.
Good condition.. |
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21
|
Areca nut palms, Zanzibar. 148 x 202 mm. A view showing a woodland path and a small plantation of areca palms with their characteristically straight trunks : 'The nut is sliced, and rolled up in the aforesaid betel nut, with a little slaked lime, a small piece of red colouring matter (katu) and sometimes a piece of tobacco. The 'quid' is then ready for chewing.' (Pearce 1920).
Good condition.. |
|
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22
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Donkey transport, She hiri [Mshihiri] Arabs, Zanzibar. 202 x 150 mm. A view showing three Arabs with their loaded donkeys on a country road. The Mshihiri Arabs come from the Hadhramaut on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
Good condition.. |
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23
|
Indians, Zanzibar. 201 x 150 mm. Showing two Indian farmers driving loaded bullock carts along a country road.
Good condition.. |
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24
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Indian shop and Swahili purchasers, Zanzibar. 202 x 151 mm. A view showing a Swahili woman and two men purchasing fruit from an Indian shop, with the shopkeeper and his son seated in the doorway.
Good condition.. |
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25
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Swahili girls, Zanzibar. 152 x 202 mm. A studio portait of two smiling Swahili girls wearing headresses and brightly patterned clothes. One of the girls holds a large woven fan. See also the next plate.
Good condition.. |
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26
|
A Swahili Belle, Zanzibar. 150 x 202 mm. A studio portrait of a pretty smiling Swahili girl wearing gaily patterned clothes, a headdress and a row of shirt buttons as earrings. 'Her gala costume consists of a head-dress of coloured silk made up into a kind of extravagant turban or mob-cap... Her body is decorously and elaborately clothed in patterned and coloured fabrics of varying qualities... ' (Pearce 1920).
Good condition.. |
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27
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Zanzibari girls at toilet. 151 x 209 mm. A view showing two Swahili girls, one arranging the other's hair in the distinctive Swahili style : 'Her hair... is 'done' in a number of ways, but the usual coiffure affected is the plaiting of her sparse locks into a series of ridges disposed at regular intervals over her head, which ridges are separated from one another by shallow valleys of bare scalp.' (Pearce 1920). A note on the reverse says 'Note shirt buttons in ears'.
Good condition, apart from slight yellowing.. |
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28
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A Lamu woman, Zanzibar. 150 x 202 mm. A studio portait of a Lamu woman wearing a patterned dress and carrying a brass vase on her head.
Good condition.. |
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29
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Group of Swahili children, Zanzibar. 201 x 152 mm. A view showing a group of Swahili children seated in a group in the street.
Good condition.. |
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30
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The Beach, Zanzibar. 144 x 86 mm. A view showing dhows and rowing boats drawn up on the beach with waterfront buildings in the background. The print shows the part of the waterfront seen in the right hand section of Y3047A/1, although many new buildings are visible in this print.
Good condition.. |
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31
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Zanzibar Port. 143 x 85 mm. A similar view to the preceding plate.
Good condition.. |
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32
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Zanzibar Port. 141 x 84 mm. A view looking along the Zanzibar waterfront with the Customs buildings and sheds in the foreground. The print shows the part of the waterfront seen in the left hand section of Y3047A/1.
Good condition.. |
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33
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Customs wharf, Zanzibar. 142 x 85 mm. A view showing labourers hauling cartloads of produce (probably sacks of cloves) from the corrugated iron warehouses on the Customs wharf.
Fair condition, some marking.. |
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34
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The Customs wharf, Zanzibar. 144 x 87 mm. A view looking along the wharf showing labourers, sacks of produce and a crane mounted on railway track.
Good condition.. |
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35
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Zanzibar Port. 143 x 85 mm. A view looking along the waterfront road with labourers pushing a cart loaded with crates in the foreground. Behind them on the road is the metal hull of a ship (origin unidentified) with the Beit-el-Ajeib largely obscured by palm trees beyond.
Good condition.. |
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36
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Dhow in harbour, Zanzibar. 105 x 81 mm. A view showing a dhow, surrounded by smaller boats, being pulled to her moorings by Swahilis standing in the shallow water.
Good condition.. |
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37
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Zanzibar Port. 83 x 143 mm. A view showing dhows moored on the beach at Zanzibar.
Good condition.. |
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38
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Zanzibar Harbour. 145 x 85 mm. A view showing Africans poling a long wooden boat from the beach at Zanzibar.
Good condition.. |
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39
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The Zanzibar Government steamer 'Cupid', Zanzibar. 142 x 87 mm. A view showing the squat, white steamer decked with flags in Zanzibar Harbour, with waterfront buildings in the background.
Good condition.. |
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40
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[Swahili women, Zanzibar]. 104 x 80 mm. A view showing Sawhili women carrying lumps of coral on the Zanzibar seashore.
Good condition.. |
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41
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Dhow and carriers in Chake Chake Creek, Pemba. 106 x 83 mm. A view showing a group of Swahili carriers, labourers in the clove plantations, in the foreground with a dhow lying in the mud beyond.
Good condition.. |
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42
|
Zanzibar - dhow under sail. 108 x 77 mm. Showing a dhow under sail preparing to leave Zanzibar Harbour.
Good condition.. |
circa 1910 |
|
43
|
The Creek, Zanzibar. 108 x 85 mm. A view looking across the Creek, situated at the north of the town between Funguni Spit and Hollis Road, towards African houses on the far shore.
Good condition.. |
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44
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Loading copra on lighters, Zanzibar. 105 x 83 mm. A view from a wharf looking down on a lighter loaded with roped sacks of copra.
Good condition.. |
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45
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General view, Zanzibar Port. 141 x 84 mm. A view from the sea looking towards the northern waterfront of Zanzibar Town. In the centre of the picture stands the Beit Al Ajeib. Sir Lloyd Mathews' house, later the Sultan's Palace, is the second building from the left of the print. The spires of the Roman Catholic Cathedral can be seen on the skyline. A noe in pencil on the reverse says : A general view. Central building formerly Sultan's Palace, now used as Govt offices.
Good condition.. |
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46
|
A bird's eye-view from the old Agency, Zanzibar. 143 x 83 mm. A view looking north-east over the waterfront rooftops towards the Beit el Ajei with the harbour in the distance. The old Consualte stands at the northern end of Main Street and was first occupied in that capacity by Captian Hamerton, English Consul to Zanzibar 1841-1857. A note in pencil on the reverse reads : Architect General. Architects : Mr J H Sinclair, Acting Brit. Agent and Consul General, who has been responsible for all the buildings of any architetural interest in the island of Zanzibar.
Good condition.. |
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47
|
The British Agency and Consulate General. 143 x 85 mm.
Good condition.. |
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48
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The Main Road, Zanzibar. 105 x 80 mm. A view looking along Main Street with Zanzibari women carrying loads on their heads in the foreground. At the left of the print can be seen the sign of A.C. Gomes, the photogrpaher of this collection. Main street runs from north to south at the western end of Zanzibar Town.
Good condition.. |
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49
|
U.M.C.A. Zanzibar. East and West. 81 x 107 mm. A view showing a nun walking along a road near the Universities Mission to Central Africa buildings with the spire of the Anglican Cathedral in the background.
Good condition.. |
circa 1910 |
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50
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A street in the Bazaar Quarter, Zanzibar. 85 x 144 mm. A view looking along a narrow street in the Bazaar Quarter with women carrying loads on their heads in the foreground. The Bazaar Quarter lies in the maze of alleyways off Main Street.
Good condition.. |
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51
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A typical street, Zanzibar. 86 x 143 mm. A view looking along a narrow street in Zanzibar lined with tall stone houses.
Good condition.. |
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52
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The Main Street, Zanzibar. 142 x 85 mm. A view looking north along Main Street with commercial premises lining the road and the Post Office (built 1906) on the right.
Good condition.. |
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53
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A part of the Bazaar, Zanzibar. 85 x 140 mm. A view looking along a narrow street in the Bazaar Quarter.
Good condition.. |
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54
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A street in the Bazaar, Zanzibar. 142 x 85 mm. A view looking along a narrow street in the Bazaar Quarter with pedestrians in the foreground.
Good condition.. |
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55
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The Fruit Market, Zanzibar. 107 x 81 mm. A view looking down on to the crowded market courtyard with Africans inspecting the sacks of fruit laid on the ground in baskets. The Zanzibar markets are situated in the western bank of the Creek Canal.
Good condition.. |
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56
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Holiday makers in the Mnazi Mmoja. 141 x 85 mm. Showing crowds of Zanzibaris in the Mnazi Mmoja, the recreation park in the south-eastern part of the town.
Good condition.. |
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57
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A reception at the British Agency, Zanzibar. 139 x 85 mm. A view showing a group of Arab Sheiks in front of the British Residency in Zanzibar. The figure at the head of the group is probably the Sultan Seyyid Khalifa Bin Harub, Sultan of Zanzibar 1911-1960.
Good condition.. |
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58
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The Sultan of Zanzibar. 141 x 85 mm. Showing Seyyid Khalifa Bin Harub of Zanzibar 1911-1960, seated in an official landau. A photograph taken near the beginning of his reign. A note on the reverse in pencil reads : The present Sultan vide [illegible] litter [?].
Good condition.. |
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59
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The population of Wete, island of Pemba. 143 x 85 mm. A view showing crowds of people in carnival clothes lining a flight of steps at Wete on the north west coast of Pemba Island. The islanders are awaiting the visit of the British Agent Consul General.
Good condition.. |
circa 1910 |
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60
|
A group of Swahili girls. 84 x 140 mm. A portrait of a group of young Swahili girls standing outside a wattle and daub house.
Good condition.. |
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61
|
Women drawing water near Ziwani, Zanzibar. 105 x 80 mm. A view showing women filling cans and jugs at a country well.
Good condition.. |
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62
|
'Danseuses', Zanzibar. 141 x 85 mm. A view showing a group of female Swahili dancers wearing headdresses and bright robes and with their faces painted white.
Good condition.. |
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63
|
Preparing for a native dance, Zanzibar. 142 x 88 mm. Showing a group of Swahili women gathered round sets of drums of various sizes and shapes.
Good condition.. |
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64
|
Making merry on the Mnazi Mmoja at the conclusion of the feast of Ramadan. 106 x 85 mm. A view showing crowds in the Recreation Park in the south eastern part of Zanzibar Town with men and women seated in a wooden 'big wheel' in the foreground.
Good condition.. |
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65
|
[Country lane, Zanzibar]. 105 x 85 mm. A view showing two Africans walking along a tree-lined country lane. Exact location unidentified, but possibly the same as the following print.
Good condition.. |
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66
|
Clove shambas on the road between Zanzibar Town and Chwaka. 84 x 107 mm. A view looking along a road lined with the clove trees of a plantation (shamba). Chwaka lies on the east coast of Zanzibar on almost the same line of latitude as Zanzibar Town.
Good condition.. |
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67
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Coconut trees, Zanzibar. 141 x 86 mm. Showing a grove of palm trees with a European figure standing in the foreground.
Good condition.. |
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68
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[Coconut plantation, Zanzibar]. 107 x 81 mm. Showing a large plantation of palm trees.
Good condition.. |
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69
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[Picking coconuts, Zanzibar]. 85 x 143 mm. A view looking up towards the top of a palm tree where an African is picking coconuts.
Good condition.. |
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70
|
[Borassus Palm, Zanzibar]. 85 x 143 mm. Showing the many branched and spiky leaved Borassus palm.
Good condition.. |
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71
|
[Country road, Zanzibar]. 104 x 81 mm. Showing Swahili women walking along a treelined country road.
Good condition.. |
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72
|
Typical scenery in the shambas. 145 x 83 mm. Showing a group of African workers standing on a plantation path with luxuriant vegetation on either side.
Good condition.. |
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73
|
Zanzibar Harbour. 72 x 43 mm. A view looking out towards the harbour crowded with dhows and other shipping. Photographer unknown. Mr Wigglesworth in pencil on reverse.
Creator: Unknown.
Fair condition.. |
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74
|
Late Sultan's Summer Palace, Zanzibar. 43 x 72 mm. A view looking along a drive towards the domed palace buildings. Exact location unidentified, but not the Chukwani Palace and possibly miscaptioned. Mr Wigglesworth on reverse in pencil.
Fair condition.. |
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