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Conflict and Costume

The Herero Tribe of Namibia

Jim Naughten

Merrell Publishers, London 2013, 108 pages, ISBN  978-1858946009

euro 45,00*

The magnificent traditional costume of the Herero of Namibia, southern Africa, is a stark reminder of the country’s tumultuous past. In the late 19th century, the influence of missionaries and traders in German Southwest Africa led to the adoption by the Herero of the European dress of the day. Over time, the voluminous gowns, completed by a cattle-horn-shaped headdress, came to represent the cultural identity of the Herero women. The men’s ceremonial dress also harks back to colonial times: following the brutal war of 1904, the Herero adapted the uniforms of German soldiers for their own Otruppe (‘troops’) movement. In Conflict and Costume, acclaimed photographer Jim Naughten captures the colorful Herero attire in a series of spectacular portraits. Set against the Namibian landscape, these dramatic images show the striking costumes and their proud owners to full effect: men in elaborate, home-made paramilitary uniforms, and women in spectacular floor-length frocks with matching horns. Dr Lutz Marten contributes an insightful text that places the dress in its historical context.

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African Kings

Daniel Lainé

Ten Speed Press, Berkeley 2000, 160 pages, ISBN 978-1580082723

euro 70,00

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Even today there are close to 100 tribal kings in Africa, vestiges of a former age—their ancient traditions preserved, their wisdom and power still honored. A portal into these worlds of mysterious rites, ancient customs, and fantastic finery, African Kings takes us into the inner circle of 70 of these tribes in the person of their king. Gorgeous formal portraits of each king, in full regalia, are accompanied by brief biographies and historical notes on the tribe and the rituals and history associated with each ruler. African Kings introduces us to a way of life rarely glimpsed, with anthropological roots as deep as any on the earth, as they make the transition into a new millennium. Includes a historical introduction that provides an overview of the king’s role in African tribes.

Among those photographed are Chukumela Nnam Obi II, the Oba of Ogba, Nigeria; El Hadj Sheehu Idris, emir of Zaria, Nigeria; and Goodwill Zwelethini, king of the Zulu, South Africa.

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The miniature language of flowers. 1865. Illustrated title page.

Decorative Sunday

The great American wood engraver John DePol began making patterns from wood engravings beginning in 1957 for a publication by John Anderson’s Pickering Press, and he continued to devise block-printed patterned papers sporadically for the next 40 years. The patterns shown here were designed and printed specifically for printing historian Renee I. Weber’s article “Woodcut Pattern Papers, and the Engraved Work of John DePol” in Matrix 6, Winter 1986, pp. 130-133.  

One block was cut for each pattern, printed in a number of copies, and pasted up into patterns. A zinc line block of the pattern was then made and printed letterpress from the plate. The finished product had to flow and not appear as though multiple images were pasted together. The patterns printed here include DePol’s geometric, architectural, floral, and swirled designs and are presented as his contribution to the field of decoration.

Matrix was printed by John and Rosalind Randle at the Whittington Press in England, and is a donation from our friend Jerry Buff.

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Due dates 1928-1975. 

“Systems of satellites.” An atlas of astronomy. 1892.

“The day-sign deer.” The delineation of the day-signs in the Aztec manuscripts. 1916.

Issey Miyake advertising from 1998