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MAKONNEN, RAS
Neg. No: (L) 3452A
Neg. Size: 15"x12"
Neg. Date: NONE

copyright V&A

Sitter: Ras Mäkonnen (Wäldä-Mika'él)(1) (1852-1906). [Ethiopia]

copyright V&A. Ras Mäkonnen (Wäldä-Mika'él) by Lafayette 1902

Biog: Ethiopian General & Governor of Harar, cr. Ras 1890; father of Emperor Haile Sellasie I.

Date: c. August 1902.

Occasion: Visit to England for the Coronation of King Edward VII; appointment as a Knight Commander of 'The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael & St. George' (K.C.M.G.), 12 August 1902.

Location: The Lafayette Studio, 179 New Bond Street, London.

Descr: FL.

Costume: Lion's hair head-dress; velvet shoulder-cloak (lempd), decorated with gold emboidery; silk shirt; belt or cummerbund of silk; closely fitting jodphur-like white cotton trousers.

Costume Supplier: Cloak and shirt probably made by Serouphi Ebeyan, dress-maker to the Ethiopian Court.

Weapons: Curved Ethiopian sword in leather scabbard; (Rifle) probably Lee Speed .303 bolt action rifle (known variously in Amharic as dimoftär, dimotfär, or dimetfor).

Furniture & Props: Painted backdrop.

Photographer: Lafayette Ltd., 179 New Bond Street, London.

Evidence of photographer at work: -

No of related negatives: 7.

Note: Image published in Vanity Fair, 1903

 

Copyright: V&A

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Provenance: Pinewood Studios; acquired 1989.

References:

Biog: Hugh Montgomery Massingberd ed., Burke's Royal Families of the World, Vol II, London, 1980, p 52b; Who's Who; August B. Wylde, Modern Abyssinia, London, 1900, passim; Felix Rosen, Eine deutsche Gesandschaft in Abessinien, Leipzig, 1907, passim. E.A. Wallis Budge, The History of Ethiopia, London, 1928, Vol II pp 537-8; S.P. Petrides, Le héros d'Adoua, Ras Makonnen, Prince d'Ethiopie, Paris, 1965; Richard D. Greenfield, Ethiopia: A New Political History, London, 1965, pp 147-8; Hayla Giyorgis Belete, Zénahu Le-Leul Ras Makonnen, Addis Ababa, 1972-3; The Encylopædia Africana Dictionary of African Biography, Vol II, New York, 1976, pp 101-2;

Occasion: (Visit to England) The World, Coronation Supplement, 2 July 1902, p 5a; The Times, 4 July 1902, p 3f; John Edward Coutenay Bodley, The Coronation of Edward the Seventh: A Chapter of European and Imperial History, London, 1903, p 354; "The Visit of Ras Makonnen to Europe in 1902 and the 'Spy' Cartoon of him",(2) Ethiopia Observer, XIV, 1971, pp 295-7; Public Record Office, Kew, Ref. FO 1, 36-40; Sir Lionel Cust, King Edward VII and His Court, London 1930, p 156. (Award of K.C.M.G.) The Times, August 11 1902, p 6b; (Award of Coronation Medal) The Times, August 18 1902, p 8a.

Costume (for literature on similar examples): (Head-dress) Gäbrä Sellassé, Chronique du regne de Ménélik II roi des rois d'Ethiopie, Paris, 1930-1, Plates XXXII, XLVIII, LV, LVI & LX. (Cloak) Augustus B. Wylde, Modern Abyssinia, London, 1900, p 248; Gäbrä Sellassé, op cit, Plates XXXIII, XLVIII, XLIV, XLVII & XLVI; Felix Rosen, Eine deutsche Gesandschaft in Abessinien, Leipzig, 1907, p 344; L De Castro, Nella terra dei Negus, Milan, 1915, Vol II, Figs. 159, 160, 189 & 197. (Shirt) Gäbrä Sellassé, op cit, Plates XXVIII, XXIX, XXXV, XLV, LVII, LXI & LXII; Rosen, op cit, p 275; De Castro, op cit, Vol I, Plates XXX, XXXVII & Fig. 66, Vol II, Figs. 56, 135, 154, 186, 190, 191, 192 & 193. (Belt) M. Parkyns [title CK], London, 1853, Vol II, p 7. (Trousers) Wylde, op cit, p 248.

Costume Supplier: (Cloak and shirt) R. Pankhurst, "Menilek and the Utilisation of Foreign Skills in Ethiopia", Journal of Ethiopian Studies, 1967, V, No 1, p 36.

Weapons: (Sword) N. Pearce, Life and Adventures of Nathaniel Pearce, London, 1831, Vol II, pp 202-3; W.C. Harris, The Highlands of Aethiopia, London, 1844, Vol II, pp 100-101. (Rifle) R. Pankhurst, "Linguistic and Cultural Data of the Penetration of Fire-Arms into Ethiopia", Journal of Ethiopian Studies, 1971, IX, No. 1, p 74.(3)

Reproduced: (Version) Chic, 27 September 1902, p 166b.

Acknowledgements: Professor Richard Pankhurst, Addis Ababa University; Dr. John Mack, Museum of Mankind, London; Adrian Weller, Esq., Sotheby's. (Research) Russell Harris, Barbara Borkowy, Jane Meadows.

1. 1 Ras = "title conferred on governors of provinces" (Burke's Royal Families of the World, Vol II, London, 1980, p 45).

2. drawn by Sir Leslie Ward, Number DCCLXVI in the series "Men of the Day", published in Vanity Fair, 12 February 1903.

3. 3 NB, this would appear to be the rifle depicted in the "Spy" Cartoon, Number DCCLXVI in the series "Men of the Day", published in Vanity Fair, 12 February 1903.