Homme Sarackoullé
"Sarakole Man" (caption translation). The Soninke (Sarakole, Seraculeh, Serahuli, among other variations) are from the Fuuta Jalon highlands in the Senegambia region. They speak Soninke, which is one of the Mande languages. In the image, Boilat described how "The man's robe is dyed blue with indigo and is embroidered on the front and the back with designs in colored silk; he is also wearing a very handsome woven belt. Two gris-gris [amulets] to protect him in war are worn over his chest. And in his hand he carries his chapelet, which, according to Boilat (a Catholic priest), is the muslim rosary composed of 100 beads, representing the 100 perfections of God. These people, he writes, pay great attention to their hair, and their hair styles are quite artistically accomplished" (pp. 28-29). David Boilat (1814-1901) was one of the first Catholic priests in the Senegambia region. His father was French and his mother a Signare, which was a term from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries used to describe a mixed-race, French-African woman. Boilat spoke Wolof and Serer; and made his drawings from life. The 24 plates based on these drawings are explained in an accompanying text. Boilat left Senegal around the age of 13, was educated in France and he returned to Senegal in 1842 where he lived for ten years working as a teacher. He returned to France where he completed his Esquisses sénégalaises in 1853. He also published a Wolof dictionary in 1858.
Image Title
Homme Sarackoullé
RegID
SI-OB-996
Date
1850s
Title
Homme Sarackoullé
Source
David Boilat, Esquisses sénégalaises: physionomie du pays, peuplades, commerce, religions, passé et avenir, récits et légendes (Paris: P. Bertrand, 1853), plate 21.
Language
French
Item sets
Pre-Colonial Africa: Society, Polity, Culture
Spatial Coverage
Africa--Western Savanna
Reproduced In
David Boilat, Esquisses sénégalaises: physionomie du pays, peuplades, commerce, religions, passé et avenir, récits et légendes (Paris: P. Bertrand, 1853).
Researchers
Handler, Jerome; Tuite, Michael; Randall Ericson; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May
Last Updated
5-Apr-16
Identifier
Boilat12