Portraits by Clawson

A skilled photographer, H. Phelps Clawson often took note of the people he met on his journeys, including his trips to France, Egypt and the Sudan as part of the Harvard University - Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, and during his 1911 excursion to Russia and northern Europe.  Below are a few of those he met and captured with his ever-present camera.



"Bedouin girl and baby near Pyramids, 1927."



"The Oldest Guide," Les Baux, France.  April 13, 1933.



Workmen performing sword dance, Egypt.



Stokers onboard the Dunnottar Castle ocean liner, 1911.



"Roasting coffee.  Eyragues, Bouches-du​-Rhone.  July 19, 1933."



"Scene on the Empress of Britain, July 20, 1911."



Unknown woman, Paris.



"Russian Cossacks at St. Isaac's, St. Petersburg​," 1911



Archaeologist Noel F. Wheeler in Egypt.



"The traveling merchant.  'Bazar ambulant.'  He begins at Marseilles
and visits all the small out of the way towns.  For the household,
he had every imaginable thing.  Greoux les Bains (B.A.).  May 22, 1933."

 

Clawson's Landscapes

"Digging is a Grave Problem"

Few, if any, normal boys pass the state of adolescence without feeling the urge to undertake some kind of exploration or embark on a hunt for buried treasure.

So began a 1938 article from the Buffalo Courier Express profiling H. Phelps Clawson and his work with the Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Archaeological Expedition to Egypt and the Sudan.  Clawson worked as an archaeologist from 1924 to 1931.  Working conditions were difficult, and for one 14 week period, Clawson copied records in a tiny underground chamber measuring only 11 x 8 x 6 feet.

Clawson's transcription of "The Story of Sinuhe."

The Rare Book Room holds a collection of Clawson's papers, which contain significant documentation of his work on the expedition.  His notebooks record his daily activities, peotry, scores of photographs, and his transcription of "The Story of Sinuhe" (as published in K.E. Sethe's Aegyptische Lesestucke) contain hieroglyphs, phonetics, and English translation.

Selective images of his notebooks and photographs are below; click on each for a larger view.  Further images, as well as the finding aid for the H. Phelps Clawson Papers can be viewed- see "Resources" at left.  Lastly, the "H. Phelps Clawson" link at the top of this page has a full biography.

"Song leader at excavations, Sarras AE Sudan 1931."

Clawson with his trusty 7 horsepower Jewett automobile.

Abu Simbel.

Digsite.  Clawson with Noel F. Wheeler.

“15 here.  67 all together.  We sorted them all out 

carefully according to where from- all from 1 tomb.”

"Light and shade and the trace of a rainbow.  
Pyramid of Cheops, 1927"

"Modern Egyptian beds differ little from the style 
used 5,000 years ago of which many specimens are 
found in the tombs.  They consist of a frame 
across which ropes are stretched.  Mr. Clawson 
says they are quite comfortable.  A 4,000 
year old piece of pottery, found in perfect condition 
at Sarras, is shown at this feet."

Source: "Digging is a Grave Problem," Buffalo Courier Express, July 3, 1938, page 4. Courtesy Buffalo State College Archives and Special Collections, repository for the Buffalo Courier Express archives.

Photo at top of entry: "Our camp at Pyramids. Pyramid of Cheops or Kufu. 1929." Photo taken by Clawson during Harvard University - Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition in Egypt and the Sudan.

Clawson's Menagerie

H. Phelps Clawson took hundreds of photographs when he traveled.  Not content with just capturing the obvious tourist sites, Phelps had a soft spot for animals.  Regardless of time or place, Phelps made sure to document his four-legged friends in all matter of disposition.

The Empress of Britain, Cossacks, and H. Phelps Clawson

In 1911, at just 19 years of age, H. Phelps Clawson boarded the luxury liner Empress of Britain in Quebec, Canada. At the time, the Empress of Britain was one of the fastest ships crossing the Atlantic.  Clawson took scores of photographs documenting his adventures on board and on land, and his penchant for capturing everyday people and activities is clearly evident, even at this young age.  Making his way through Europe, he also sailed on the Dunottar Castle and the Olympic ocean liners.  A selection of these photographs is on display here, offering a unique view of Scandinavia, France, and Germany before the first World War, as well as pre-Soviet Russia.

The Oddities of H. Phelps Clawson

Phelps was a skilled photographer and took hundreds of photographs when he traveled.  With a sharp eye for the unique, here are a few of the more unusual sites he captured.

 

Passengers playing cricket on board the Dunottar Castle ocean liner, 1911.

 

GIANT termite nest near Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais.  Brazil, December 1941.

Offerings for the Devil at the base of a tree. Bahia, Brazil 1941.  Below are Phelps' diary entries describing the custom.

 

From bottom of page:

"Tree on the road with offerings for the Exir (the Devil).  

Dish of Indian corn, a number of cigars, a piece of meat,...

"...jaw of an animal, several pots (now broken) bits of colored cloth.  All there lay at roots of tree.  Sometimes a goat or cock are left.  A man wants something.  He summons the Exir who may appear as a hen, a chicken, a pig, etc.  The fifth time he comes as the Devil.  The bargain is made then for a price (money, a goat, a cow (rarely) or the man's soul.  Then he gets his desire."

Want to learn more?  Read H. Phelps Clawson's Brazil diary here.

Pineapple...the Brazilian Way

In October, 1941, H. Phelps Clawson set out for Brazil. He often kept modest diaries during his travels, and this trip was no different. Endlessly curious and observant, Phelps loved the way his pineapple was served "the Brazilian way" and noted so in his diary:

Brazilian diary, page 5 detail.

Read H. Phelps Clawson's Brazilian travel diary.
Learn how to make your own pineapple boat, the Brazilian way!