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Jean Brown Collection of Pokot Material Culture

In the early 1970s, Dr. Jean Brown, ethnographer of the National Museum of Kenya and former assistant to Dr. L.S.B. Leakey, collected items for the MSU Museum that represent the material culture of the Kurut or Agricultural Pokot in the area of the Great Rift Valley. Among the research objectives of the project was the study of technological processes involved in the manufacture of artifacts: metalsmithing, potting, woodworking, basketry and housebuilding. The study yielded hundreds of artifacts, along with documentary photographs and audio recordings of the Pokot culture. Included in the collection are outstanding examples of basketry: a baby feeding bottle, toy sword and shield used by boys to practice fighting, a fish trap, and food gathering and preparation containers.

Donors and Fieldworkers

Jean Brown

Exhibitions

"African Connections: Perspectives on Collecting Culture," Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, Jan. 31, 1999 - Sept. 5, 1999.

"Expressions of Africa: Selections from the Museum Collections of Michigan State University, " Kresge Art Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, September 19-December 15, 1989.

Publications

Raymond A. Silverman. "African Connections Perspectives on Collecting Culture," [virtual exhibition] http://museum.msu.edu/Exhibitions/Virtual/AfCon/

Raymond A. Silverman. Expressions of Africa: Selections from the Museum Collections of Michigan State University. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum with Kresge Art Museum and African Studies Center, 1989.