Abstract
MR. TORDAY'S contribution to the science of African ethnology was twofold. His publications have already been mentioned; they constitute a record of the highest importance. But he was also distinguished as a practical field-worker; and the ethnographical collections from the Belgian Congo, all carefully documented, with which he enriched the British Museum between 1907 and 1910, are of outstanding excellence. Both in quantity and quality they are unrivalled among our African collections, and it is not too much to say that the study of them is essential for anyone who would understand the high level of refinement in decorative and textile arts of which the Bantu are capable. In performing this signal service to the nation, Torday has incidentally achieved a fitting memorial to himself and his labours, which will increase in value with the passage of time. He worked for some years in an unofficial capacity at the British Museum, arranging and labelling his own and other collections, and his deep knowledge of African matters was always placed freely at the disposal of the staff.
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BRAUNHOLTZ, H. [Obituary]. Nature 127, 981–982 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/127981b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/127981b0