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Janet and Wyatt MacGaffey Photograph Collection
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Held at: Bryn Mawr College [Contact Us]Bryn Mawr College Library, 101 N. Merion Avenue, Bryn Mawr 19010
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Bryn Mawr College. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
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This collection contains images of individual objects, likely taken in a studio, as well as photographs of Mayivangwa Thérèse and Wadimbudula Esther.
There is one portrait of Mayivangwa Thérèse seated on a woven mat, next to two boys. Thérèse is patterning a jug. Alongside this portrait, there is a series of photographs of her handpulling vases.
There is one portrait of Wadimbudula Esther shaping a ceramic with a stick with a wooden board on her lap.
Some of the studio photographs were not published and include notes. All studio photography is of work by Mayivangwa Thérèse.
Wyatt and Janet MacGaffey donated these ethnographic photographs in conjuction to their donation of 12 Congolese ceramics. The MacGaffeys were both anthropologists who conducted research in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These ethnographic photographs were taken as part of Janet MacGaffey's anthropological research Congolese ceramics, later published in African Art.
Janet MacGaffey's research focused on the two artists pictured in these photographs: Mayivangwa Thérèse and Wadimbudula Esther. Mayivangwa Thérèse lived in Vunda, Democratic Republic of the Congo and was known for her earthenware with artisitc flourishes. Thérèse used crosshatching, snakes, and patterns on her earthenware. Wadimbudula Esther lived in Matadi, Democratic Republic of the Congo and was known for her simple, practicle, and sturdy designs.
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- Bryn Mawr College