'Pygmies of Central Africa'
'Pygmies of Central Africa'
by Benjamin Stone
platinum print, 1905
6 1/8 in. x 8 in. (157 mm x 203 mm) image size
Given by House of Commons Library, 1974
Photographs Collection
NPG x30034
Artistback to top
- Sir (John) Benjamin Stone (1838-1914), Politician and photographer. Artist or producer associated with 1436 portraits, Sitter in 28 portraits.
Sittersback to top
- Sir Charles William Cayzer, 1st Bt (1843-1916), Shipowner, businessman and politician. Sitter in 10 portraits. Identify
- James Jonathan Harrison (1858-1923), Soldier and big game hunter. Sitter in 1 portrait.
- William Hoffman (1867-1941), Traveller and rogue. Sitter in 3 portraits. Identify
- Sir Charles Frederick Hutchinson (1850-1907), Physician and Liberal politician; MP for Rye. Sitter in 3 portraits.
- Ellen (née Soames), Lady Hutchinson, Wife of Sir Charles Frederick Hutchinson; daughter of S. Horner Soames. Sitter in 1 portrait. Identify
- Balthazar Walter Foster, 1st Baron Ilkeston (1840-1913), Politician and physician. Sitter in 4 portraits. Identify
- Mr King (active 1905). Sitter in 1 portrait. Identify
- Sir Lees Knowles (1857-1928), Politician, barrister and military historian. Sitter in 1 portrait. Identify
- Charles Henry Wilson, 1st Baron Nunburnholme (1833-1907), Shipowner; head of Thomas Wilson Sons & Co and Liberal politician; MP for Hull and Hull West. Sitter in 2 portraits.
- Sir Robert John Price (1854-1926), Politician, surgeon and barrister. Sitter in 1 portrait. Identify
- Sir (Emil Hugo Oscar) Robert Ropner, 1st Bt (1838-1924), Politician, army officer, shipbuilder and shipowner. Sitter in 5 portraits. Identify
- Sir John Batty Tuke (1835-1913), Politician and medical practitioner specialising in mental illness. Sitter in 5 portraits. Identify
This portraitback to top
This is a historical work of art which reflects the attitudes and viewpoints of the time in which it was made. Whilst these may differ from today's attitudes, this image is an important historical document.
Traveller and writer James J. Harrison (1857–1923) brought six Pygmies to Britain from the Ituri Forest region in the Congo. Within five days of their arrival in Britain, the Pygmies appeared at the Hippodrome Theatre in Leicester Square, London, supported by their Swahili-speaking interpreter William Hoffman (1867–1941), a former servant to H.M. Stanley.
The group was photographed at the House of Commons and less formally, in their stage costumes, presumably at the back of the Hippodrome. Sir (John) Benjamin Stone (1838–1914) was a prolific amateur photographer, wealthy Birmingham industrialist and Conservative MP. The Gallery holds 2000 of Stone’s Parliamentary photographs taken between 1897 and 1910. The photographs were all given by the House of Commons Library in 1974.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Rolley, Katrina; Aish, Caroline, Fashion in Photographs 1900-1920, 1992, p. 58
Placesback to top
- Place made and portrayed: United Kingdom: England, London (Members’ Entrance to Terrace, Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London)
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- Black Chronicles: Photographic Portraits 1862-1948 (18 May 2016 - 13 December 2016)
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1905back to top
Current affairs
Following turmoil over the issue of Free Trade, Balfour resigns and calls an election, believing that the Liberals will be defeated. However, he is mistaken and Henry Campbell-Bannerman replaces him as the Liberal government Prime Minister.The foundation of the Ulster Unionist Council, established to campaign against Home Rule, marks the birth of the Ulster Unionist party in Northern Ireland with the Duke of Abercorn as the first elected president.
Art and science
The Bloomsbury group of artists and intellectuals begin to hold informal gatherings at the home of Vanessa and Virginia Stephen. The group includes the artist Duncan Grant, biographer Lytton Strachey, and the art critics Clive Bell and Roger Fry.The German theoretical physicist Albert Einstein has his 'annus mirabilis', publishing groundbreaking papers on the nature of light and motion, including his relation of mass and energy in the equation e = mc2.
International
Massacre of more than 100 workers at a peaceful demonstration by troops in St Petersburg becomes known as 'Bloody Sunday'. The event sparks the 1905 Revolution, with uprisings and peasant revolts in other cities, leading the Tsar to issue the October Manifesto, pledging moderate reform, including the establishment of an elected 'duma' (government), which only partially appeases imperial opposition. Still fighting Japan, the internal agitation weakens the imperial army.Comments back to top
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