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MEB 93-63

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Ngombi, harp bought from Juan Chicharro Lamamié de Clairac in Akurenam for two hundred pesetas
Research by
Sarai Martín López
Institució dipositària
Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món (MuEC)
Nº inventari institucional
MEB 93-63
Breu descripció institucional
Harp (in the museum's inventories, its original name is recorded as egueme, but it is actually called ngombi).
Advertiment: Definition given in the institution's own inventories, which we do not necessarily share and which in some cases may be offensive or the result of prejudice.
Material
Not recorded in the museum's inventories
Advertiment: Terms used by scientific and academic institutions to describe the material collections held by museums of ethnology, natural history or zoology, which overlook other non-Western forms of designation and classification. While we do not necessarily share these terms, we nevertheless use them in provenance research such as this.
Mesures
Not recorded in the museum's inventories
Mètode d’adquisició
Purchase
Advertiment: This refers to the process of acquisition of the object/specimen by the institution currently holding it, and not to the first transfer it underwent from its original context. If you have information that may be relevant to the provenance of the object/specimen, please write to comunicacio@traficants.org.
Lloc d'adquisició
Equatorial Guinea
Advertiment: Data extracted from the documentary collections of the institution, which may be erroneous or incorrectly transcribed. The historical toponymy (often of colonial origin) has been retained to give coherence to the research.
Place of production/origin
Not recorded in the museum's inventories
Advertiment: Data extracted from the documentary collections of the institution, which may be erroneous or incorrectly transcribed. The historical toponymy (often of colonial origin) has been retained to give coherence to the research.
Collector
Jordi Sabater Pi
Advertiment: The personal or institutional names that appear, often associated with the colonial order, may be offensive or the result of prejudice. These references are used to give coherence to the research.
Donant
Juan Chicharro Lamamié de Clairac (not recorded in the museum's inventories)
Advertiment: The personal or institutional names that appear, often associated with the colonial order, may be offensive or the result of prejudice. These references are used to give coherence to the research.
Classification group
Not recorded in the museum's inventories (in theory, Fang)
Advertiment: Data extracted from the documentary collections of the institution, which may be erroneous or incorrectly transcribed, and which we do not necessarily share. We keep a terminology (tribe, people, ethnicity, race, country, etc.), created or manipulated during the colonial period, to give coherence to the research.
Holder of the legal property rights
Barcelona City Council
Advertiment: Reference is made to the holder of the rights recognized by the legal and juridical systems of the former colonial metropolises, regardless of the property rights that may emanate from the communities of origin.

Summary of results

This is a harp (ngombi) acquired on 14 September 1959 by Jordi Sabater Pi—from the Bindung Acclimatization Garden—from Captain Juan Chicharro Lamamié de Clairac, Vice-Governor of Equatorial Guinea at the time. Although it is included in a list of objects purchased in Akurenam (southeastern Equatorial Guinea, Centro Sur province), there are no clear details about its origin in the available documentation, nor about the conditions of acquisition of the piece by Juan Chicharro.

Chronological reconstruction of provenance

There are not many details about this piece. It is a harp (ngombi) that Jordi Sabater Pi acquired for two hundred pesetas—probably in September 1959—from Captain Juan Chicharro Lamamié de Clairac, author of the book En el país de los elefantes, 1995 (literally, In the Land of the Elephants). The various inventories of pieces collected and transported to the Ethnological Museum during 1959 give rise to some confusion about this object. It seems that the same harp, together with another one, is recorded in different lists of objects drawn up and issued in different months and years—either to justify its shipment or to balance the accounts of the Bindung Acclimatization Garden—and sometimes these appear with names that do not coincide with each other, although everything points to the fact that they are the same piece.

In the dossier MEB_L128_03_04, in the document with the list of ethnological material acquired by Panyella and Jordi Sabater Pi (signed on 31/12/1959), they are listed as ‘ancient harp (100 ptas.)’ and ‘human figure from the Butí sect (200 ptas. )’; in dossier MEB_L128_04_04 (transport and customs documents), in the document listing ethnological material collected by the Ethnological Museum and the Ethnology Section of the Bindung Acclimatization Garden (signed 1/10/1959), the second object is recorded as ‘Mbueti sect harp’; in the dossier MEB_L128_04_05, with the list of ethnological material acquired in the Akurenam district (signed on 19/04/1959), only ‘1 ancient harp (100 ptas. )’; in MEB_128_44_07 (cash and bank statements corresponding to the cash account not belonging to the Municipal Service of the Barcelona Zoological Garden), the amount of an ‘ancient harp, Boutí sect’ is recorded, with inventory number 63, which was acquired from Captain Juan Chicharro, for two hundred pesetas; Finally, in MEB_L128_03_11 (bills for items and correspondence), there is an invoice issued by the Bindung Acclimatization Garden for the sum of two hundred pesetas to Juan Chicharro, for ‘1 antique harp – human figure’ (signed on 14/9/1959). The registration number of the only harp listed in the inventory in Excel coincides with the inventory number listed in the document included in the dossier MEB_128_44_07, so it is quite likely that it is the same object as the one purchased from Chicharro. Furthermore, it is understood from this relationship that it was acquired in Akurenam (in the southeast of the country, in the Centro Sur province). However, we do not know the conditions under which the object was purchased by the captain.

Estimation of provenance

The figure was acquired through the Bindung Acclimatization Garden, but is recorded in a list of pieces acquired in Akurenam (southeastern part of the country, in the Centro Sur Province), although there is no concrete information to support this claim. However, the object was certainly obtained on the mainland of the country. Furthermore, the precise place of acquisition by Juan Chicharro is unknown due to a lack of information in the available documentation.

Possible alternative classifications

It is recommended that the price be stated (two hundred pesetas), the specific place of acquisition (Akurenam) be clarified, the name of the person from whom it was bought (Juan Chicharro Lamamié de Clairac) be added, and the description of the piece be improved. It is not clear that the original name of the object is ‘egueme’ as stated in the inventory, but ‘ngombi’.

Complementary sources

Archives:

MEB L128 03 04. Referència: MEB (1958-59). Relació de cinquanta-dues peces etnogràfiques fang, adquirides en diversos poblats de la demarcació d’Evinayong (província de Guinea) amb destí al Museu Etnològic i Colonial de Barcelona [Inventaris]. Comptes justificatius. Adquisicions peces etnologia (52) i excavacions Sta. Isabel Fernando Poo (esborranys) Expedició Guinea (L128 03 04). Arxiu del Museu Etnològic.

MEB_L128_04_04. Referència: MEB (1959-60). Transports i duana. Llista peces (esborranys). Expedició Guinea (L128 04 04). Arxiu del Museu Etnològic.

MEB_128_44_07. Referència: MEB (1959). Diari. Caixa i banc corresponents a l’efectiu no pertanyent al Servei Municipal del Parc Zoològic. Jardí de Bindung (L128 44 07). Arxiu del Museu Etnològic.

MEB_L128_03_11. Referència: MEB (1958-59). Factures peces i correspondència. Expedició Guinea (L128 03 11). Arxiu del Museu Etnològic.

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