the chief s.o. alonge photographic collection: royal court of benin photographer, nigeria, 1926 –...

The Eliot Elisofon Photographic ArchivesNational Museum of African Art

Chief Solomon Osagie AlongePhotographer to the Royal Court of Benin, Nigeria

S.O. Alonge seated outside his studio wearing formal attire and spats.

Benin City, c. 1942 (self-portrait)

Benin Chief with his traditional (extended) family, celebrates his title taking, n.d.

Visit of Earl of Plymouth (second left) to the Oba of Benin (center) at the Oba’s palace, 1935

Oba Akenzua II with his queens, the Iloi, Benin City, 1956

Oba Akenzua II greets Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on Royal Visit to Benin City, 1956

Ideal Studio portraits

Preliminary survey of the Alonge

collection

Bonsai Fine Art: packing and

shipping the Alonge collection

Packing the glass plates for shipment to the

Elisofon Archives

Phase I: Preservation and duplication

of Alonge glass plate negatives and film negatives

Collections Care and Preservation Fund

Smithsonian Institution, 2009

S.O. Alonge glass plate negatives

Archival four-flap enclosures and slotted boxes

for glass plate negatives

Conservation sink mats for fragile glass plates

Inspection and inventory of glass plate negatives,

NEDCC interpositives and duplicate negatives

NEDCC: Duplication and digitization of 120mm film negatives

Inspection and inventory of original120mm film negatives, NEDCC interpositives and duplicate negatives

Phase IPreservation survey:

Alonge vintage photographs and photo albums

Collections Care and Preservation Fund Smithsonian Institution, 2009

Preservation survey: Alonge artifacts

Collections Care and Preservation Fund Smithsonian Institution, 2009

Phase II:Preservation of photographic albums

and prints

Collections Care and Preservation FundSmithsonian Institution, 2010

Exhibition plans:Chief Solomon Osagie Alonge

Photographer to the Royal Court of Benin, Nigeria

National Museum of African ArtFebruary 2012 – August 2012

S.O. AlongeEarly Years

1930s – 1940s

Ideal Photo Studio, Benin City

Ideal Studio portraits

Picturing a New SocietyBenin Social Life

1930s – 1950s

Prize winner, c. 1939

Royal Court Photography 1933 - 1978

“Interior of the Royal Palace, destroyed in a fire, bronzes on the ground”.

Unknown photographer, Benin City, 1897. Pitt Rivers Museum, U. of Oxford.

PRM 1998.208.15.11

Oba Ovonramwen on way to exile, on board Ship Ivy, J. A. Green, c. 1897Alonge copy negative Himbury allbum 1995-0024-0031

Benin plaque (82-5-3) Benin king (85-19-12)

Commemorative objects:

Photographs in other mediums

Commemorative cloth, Funeral Oba Akenzua II, 1978 (2004-10-4)

In Memory of….Alonge commemorative objects

The End