Adornments of the circumcision festivities, South Africa East

„Kaffer im Tanzschmuck der Beschneidungsfeierlichkeiten“ („Kaffir in dance adornments of the circumcision festivities“). A person, standing in a meadow, wearing a special mask, maybe made of straw and holding a stick in his right upraised hand. Trees and huts in the background. Wilhelm Friedrich Karl Blohm, born in 1884 in Keffenbrinck (Germany), was a carpenter. In 1911 he married Marie Bürger. He started his missionary work in 1911 in Unyamwezi (East Africa). After being imprisoned by the Belgians from 1916 till 1917 he returned to Germany. From 1922 till 1945 he worked as a missionary in Baziya (South Africa). He died in Baziya in 1945. -- An initiation costume like the one in the photograph is part of the collection of the "Völkerkundemuseum Herrnhut".