angela
as I understand it from the catalogue on Cordier, his personal name was Said or Seid Enkess, born in Darfur around 1821 and captured into slavery around 1828; around 1830 he was taken from Egypt to Italy and thence to France, where he became an artist's model. [another source says studio assistant but that is not contradictory]
when the first [a plaster version] of the Cordier busts was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1848, it was entitled 'Said Abdalla de la tribu de Mayac, royaume de Darfour' I don't know if Abdalla/h was one of his names.
18 months later when the first bronze version was exhibited, it was called 'Negre de Tambouctou' no doubt because Cordier was pushing the representative/generic nature ethnographic busts, though it's not clear if he had this latter idea before sculpting Said Enkess, or after its success
Jan
-----Original Message-----
From: The Black and Asian Studies Association on behalf of Angela Allison
Sent: Fri 18/06/2010 17:58
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: African Venus and Sheikh Abdullah
does that mean that he's not Said Abdullah?
or is he Said Abdullah Enkess or Said Enkess Abdullah?
Angela
On 18 Jun 2010, at 16:11, Jan Marsh wrote:
> These two exceptional bronze heads sculpted by Charles Cordier from
> an African woman in Paris c.1850 and from Said Enkess, originally
> from Dafur,
>
> feature in the current exhibition at Buckingham Palace on Victoria &
> Albert's art collection. One has to wade through quantities of gilded
> royaltery but they are brilliantly displayed, together with the
> portrait busts of Dalip Singh and Princess Gorumma.
>
>
>
> Two other small items of note - photo of Andaman Islands man 1857 and
> a shot of the Chartist demonstration 1848
>
> Both purchased by Prince Albert's collection
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------
>
> Dr Jan Marsh
>
> Later Victorian Catalogue
>
> National Portrait Gallery St Martin's Place London WC2H OHE
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