Two Men at the Foot of Kilimanjaro. African collections of M. Lány and H. Fuchs

One of the largest collections documenting the culture of native people from around Mount Kilimanjaro is to be found in the collections of the Náprstek Museum. It comes from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and, as to the size and importance, is comparable to Emil Holub’s collection, also housed in the Náprstek Museum.The donors of the collection were two men, who had linked their life with East Africa: Martin Bohdan Lány (1876–1941) and Hans August Fuchs (1875–1934). The collection of M. B. Lány and H. A. Fuchs comprises 541 items, which the Náprstek Museum acquired between 1903 and 1910. The whole collection can be devided into six parts: 1) jewellery and ornaments, 2) weapons, 3) ritual objects, 4) objects for everyday use 5) dress and dress accessories, 6) musical instruments.