TypeInscriptionsWhite inkFirst letters, than numbers
Unknown (VE85)
Unknown (VE85).
Georg Tillmann
Collection Georg Tillmann, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Unknown (ETH 205)
Unknown (ETH 205).
Musée de la vie indigène, Leopoldville, D.R. Congo
Musée de la vie indigène, Leopoldville, D.R. Congo.
Unknown (Me 14737)
On a drum from Torres Straits.
Reads: "Me 14737.Torres Straße Bibliogr. Institut."
The Bibliographisches Institut was a private publishing house founded in 1826 that moved to Leipzig in 1874, and probably the provenance for this object. Almost all of the alphanumeric accession numbers from the Dresden Museum begin with ‘MI’ but there are a few that begin with ‘Me’.
Unknown (A.B.213.)
On a Cameroon throne.
André Held
Collection André Held, Ecublens, Switzerland.
Marc Felix
Marc Felix, Brussels, Belgium.
On an Ijo mask (YVRA 0098011).
Fred ten Houten
Collection Fred ten Houten, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Augustin Krämer
Collected by Augustin Krämer, Stuttgart, Germany.
Han Coray collection
HC in white ink followed by a number.
Collection Han Coray, Agnuzzo-Lugano, Switzerland.
Marc Felix Collection
FX in white ink followed by a number (year + ?).
Marc Felix, Brussels, Belgium.
Unknown (A14)
On a Dogon figure (0120234).
Unknown (DS AF 10 MA)
Possibly Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, Germany.
On a Guro mask (YVRA 0031932).
Keller Collection
Collection Georges F. Keller, Davos, Switzerland
Geisler Collection
Collection Dr. Heinz Geisler, Heidelberg, Germany
Unknown (SW.2)
Here you can find an inventory of old registration numbers and labels featured on or attached to African art objects. You can browse them using a custom-designed tree-structure that should be self-explanatory.
In the past, many museums, private collectors and dealers inscribed registration numbers or other information on artworks in their collections. It is the goal of this project to offer a list of such numbers and labels whose authors have been identified. This page will also feature inscriptions that still need to be attributed.
The present list is work in progress. Please get in touch (here) when you would like to add information about inscriptions or labels not already listed.