Lively market scenes, small villages, and fishing communities are documented. Gruber shows a particular interest in children, often with their mothers in a caregiving role. Another notable focus of these albums is the two trade fairs of 1934 and 1935, the Foire-Exposition d’Abidjan. These week-long events “would include a competition among decorated cars, a city-wide procession of flowered floats, water festivals, musical performances by the 5th battalion of Senegalese tiralleurs, and ‘tam-tams’ by seven African peoples” (Grundlach). The larger album contains excellent shots of one of the expositions: Mossi emperor Naba Kom II and “rois” from Bondouku, Korhogo, and Agboville; the government pavilion; and indigenous peoples. Festive dances by Senufo women, wearing skirts and elaborate headdresses made of cowries, fibre, and feathers, also feature, and the Senufo men’s participation in the initiation ceremonies of the male secret society known as the Poro. There are images of the Baule dancers from Dimbokro and Ebrie dancers from the lagoons around Abidjan and Grand Bassam. These intriguing images give a fascinating insight into the inquisitive mind of a colonial wife and woman traveller. Eleven volumes, landscape quarto (first volume 280 × 250 mm; others 200 × 245 mm), the first 80 pages, others either 36 or 38 pages, unpaginated. Contemporary commercial photograph albums: larger album, dark brown cloth post-binder (nickel-plated posts) by Gilbert (stamped “Made in England”), gilt lettered on front cover; others uniform in brown cloth textured to resemble lizard-skin, gilt lettered on front covers. 1,195 original photographs tipped-in to drab khaki heavy stock paper (photographs measuring approx. 55 × 90 mm up to 120 × 180 mm, several panoramic views 100 × 290 mm up to 100 × 905 mm, some carrying wet stamps of L. Meteyer on verso). A few clippings from an American magazine pasted into the larger volume; binding of this volume a little worn, other volumes with some scuffs and rubbing to extremities, chips to extremities of spines, one volume with half of spine missing (but sound), another shaken, but overall in good condition; of the photographs a few are folded and repaired, some corner-mounted, a few with ink annotations at lower edge (in French), a handful with location identified in English; for the most part excellent prints in very good condition. ¶ Courtney P. Conroy, France as a Negative Influence on the Cote d’Ivoire: The Consequences of Foreign Interference , 2010; Cory Gundlach, La Foire-Exposition d’Abidjan: Imagining Africa Through Colonial Spectacle , 2016; Hans-Jurgen Lusebrink, “Historical Culture in (Post-) Colonial Context”, in Heidrun Friese, ed., Identities: Time, Difference, and Boundaries , 2002. £15,000 [119443]
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71 GROTE, Harriet & George. Manuscript petition presented by Harriet and George Grote to Parliament. [London: c.1860–70] “unjust in principle and therefore productive of evil in its operation” An early legal petition, submitted and signed by Harriet and George Grote, in support of the economic independence of married women, drafted around the time of the Married Women’s Property Act of 1870 and in the lead up to the amended Act of 1882. Harriet Grote ( née Lewin, 1792–1878) was well-read in political economy and philosophy, a leading proponent of political radicalism, a devoted patron of the arts, and a staunch supporter of the early feminist movement. Referred to as “the Empress” by her family, she was nicknamed “queen of the radicals” by Sydney Smith and described as “absolutely unconventional” by Mary Charlotte Mair Simpson. She eloped with the radical politician and historian George Grote (1794– 1871) in March 1820. Harriet was one of the signatories of the 1866 petition and, three years later, spoke at the first public meeting of the National Society for Women’s Suffrage. This manuscript petition, undated but preceding George’s death in June 1871, opens by arguing “that the law concerning the property of married women is unjust in principle and therefore productive of evil in its operation”. It presents three changes: the first, that the property of a married woman (whether acquired before or after marriage) should be under her control; the second, that the earnings of a married woman should legally belong to her, “subject only to a claim for the maintenance and education of her children”; and third, that a married woman’s obligations, debts, or engagements (whether gained before or after marriage) should be her responsibility alone.
Single leaf of vellum, folio (382 × 204 mm), handwritten in ink on recto, signed “H. Grote” and “Geo. Grote” at foot. Faint horizontal creases from folding, two small stains along upper edge, that on the left with tiny paper overlay to strengthen. In remarkably good condition. ¶ Kathryn Gleadle, British Women in the Nineteenth Century , 2001. £2,500 [156407] 72 GRUBER, Brents Rowlett. Photographic archive of American life and mercantile enterprise in French West Africa. Ivory Coast: 1932–36 A striking visual record of life in Côte d’Ivoire during the 1930s A unique and vivid archive of extraordinary breadth, comprising nearly 1,200 images that provide a striking panorama of life in Côte d’Ivoire, witnessed from an unusual perspective: that of an American woman from the South eager to capture the richness of her African experiences. Brents Rowlett Gruber was the wife of Lewis H. Gruber, an American entrepreneur from Louisville, Kentucky, who was involved in the logging industry and ran a Chevrolet dealership in Abidjan and Grand Bassam, trading under the name L. H. Gruber & Cie. It was she who was the photographer, characterized by the Louisville Courier-Journal as a “prominent social worker, traveler, and resident of Africa”. Many of the images, including those of the Lobi people, were taken on trips to various locations, such as Bouake, the second largest city in Côte d’Ivoire, with photographs showing the cotton market and the Duvriers Railway. Several of the folding panoramas include vistas of Grand Bassam by L. Meteyer, a well-established photographer based in the town. There are other scenes at Grand Bassam (the colonial quarter there now a UNESCO World Heritage Site), including the rail terminal, residential blocks, Bureau of Finance, the mosque, hospital,
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and the central market, as well as the newly created public parks, logging, and vistas of Cocody Bay. The hundreds of photographs of ethnographical interest are a testament to the rich diversity of indigenous peoples, an ethnic mix that comprises some 60 separate groups. The images are especially striking in their candidness, capturing the everyday life and practices of the people encountered. Animistic beliefs through ritualistic dances with masks are frequently shown. One image shows an antelope mask with a raffia cloak, likely a mask in the elegant style of the Guro people. The Lobi people are instantly recognisable as they wear lip plugs in the upper lip, and many people in the images display scarification. White cowrie shells, a form of currency, which also held deeper symbolic and ritualistic meaning, feature prominently. Also shown are different examples of women pounding cassava used to make the Ivorian staple, fufu .
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LOUDER THAN WORDS
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