George W. Harley Collection
George Way Harley and his wife, Winifred, acquired substantial collections of African materials during their missionary work in Ganta, Liberia, between 1926 and 1960. Professor Nathan Altshuler, one of the founding faculty of the Anthropology Department, recognized the potential of these materials as a teaching resource and purchased the present collection for the College in 1965. The collection comprises a total of 274 objects.
The items pictured below give an indication of the collection as a whole. Included with each image is the object’s title, description, material(s) of manufacture, and accession number. Text inside quotation marks is taken directly from Harley’s documentation. Click on any image to launch a full-size version in a new window.
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Headpiece"The Greater Hornbill. A representation of a totem animal (bird). Worn perhaps by a dancer on special occasions." Wood. 65:01:0018 Details:
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AnkletOne of a pair of wooden anklets carved in imitation of the more typical brass anklets. Wood. 65:01:0099a Detail:
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ChairThis chief’s chair is unique in that the seat is mortised into side bars, and legs go through like pins holding it all together. Wood. 65:01:0110 Detail:
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NecklaceWorn by a chief's wife, with glass beads and small brass bells made locally. Complex composite. 65:01:0112 Details:
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MaceThis mace was carried by the messenger sent to call together the jury for "ritual trials." Brass. 65:01:0113 Detail:
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Replica MaskHarley mentions seeing one other mask with legs, a wooden "mask which stood at the entrance of the Poro during sessions . . . acting as an oath-piece on which all who entered must swear, 'May lightning strike me if I tell anything I have seen.'" This mask is of the great Forest-Spirit type and was probably made especially for Harley. Brass. 65:01:0128 Details:
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Twin Pot VesselHarley wrote that twins were viewed with anxiety among the peoples with whom he worked, because it was believed that twins shared one soul. Twins were typically fed "twin-medicine" that resulted in the death of one of the twins, giving the soul a single place of residence. This ceramic piece, identified as a twin pot, has a "covered section which belongs to the deceased twin and an open part which belongs to the surviving twin. A small hole connects the two sections. By tilting and maneuvering the pot, the living twin can manage to get most of his twin's rightful portion" of food or drink. Ceramic and fiber composite. 65:01:0191 Details:
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Effigy (Kra or Geh)The "owner-priest dances with an effigy such as one of the these on his head when acting as a diviner. Effigies are made in set of three, a big one and two smaller ones such as these (shown here) which act as 'helpers.' One of the effigy 'helpers' acts as an interpreter and the other 'helper' invokes the ancestral spirits." Ceramic and fiber composite. 65:01:0193, 65:01:0194 Details:
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BagRaffia purse. Fiber composite. 65:01:0218 Details:  
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Beaded SashHank of small blue and white trade beads, worn by women as a girdle. These beaded sashes were decorative status symbols and not part of the clothing itself. Glass composite. 65:01:0259 Details:  
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Bead NecklaceBlue glass beads with a brass pendant or breast-piece. Glass, brass composite 65:01:0263 Details:  
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Strand of BeadsShort strand of beads, yellow on black polka dots. Glass. 65:01:0265 Detail: 
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