Featured Question for the Genealogy Researchers

I have acquired two miniature African baskets. I am still pursuing their actual origin, but my question here is addressed to those among you who do great genealogical research. Each basket has a paper label attached that reads "Brought from Africa by Jane P. Angus". The style of the label looks like it dates from the late 19th-early 20th century. Can anyone find out who Jane P. Angus was, where she was in Africa, and what she was doing there? Perhaps she was a missionary of some sort. The baskets came through an American seller in Maine, (with no additional information), but I don't know if Ms Angus herself was American. Angus, of course, is of Scottish origin.

I haven't yet found full size comparative examples of these miniatures. One is described as a winnowing tray, the other as a baby's bonnet. So if anyone has suggestions about that aspect I would welcome your thoughts as well.

 

A winnowing basket has to be more like a sieve. Both of these pieces are more tightly woven than I would expect.



The shape of the first one suggests to me that it was meant to be carried with one hand bracing it against the body while the other hand was, perhaps, gathering something.

 

According to AI search for Jane P. Angus Africa.

The name Jane P. Angus tied specifically to Africa matches public records for an executive who operated a prominent public relations and communications firm in South Africa.
Professional Profile

• Role: Owner and Principal
• Company: Jane Angus and Associates – Public Relations
• Location: Cape Town Area, South Africa
• Active Timeline: Her firm operated in the region from January 1991 to January 1994, following a long career presence in the Cape Town area dating back to 1975.

 

Very interesting. But I think she is more recent than the labels and handwriting would suggest.

 

Dates wouldn't fit. The label is pre-ball point pen.

Debora

 

I found a Jane Angus in Belfast, Maine. 23 in 1860. In Bangor ten years later. Husband was a lawyer.

Debora

 

grain scoops , Etsy.

 

That would certainly fit with the baskets being found in Maine. Nice sleuthing!

 

The closest winnowing trays I have found so far are from South Sudan -

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1979-06-26


https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1928-0409-79

 

When you winnow, you shake the grain or even throw it up in the air and the chaff is blown off by the wind. This is repeated several times to get all the chaff out. If a winnowing basket or tray were like a sieve, everything would fall through and the chaff would still be mixed with the grain.

I have seen documentaries where this scoop-like shape was used for winnowing, so that is a correct description imo.

 

Winnowing barley in Nepal, you can see how the chaff blows to one side. The chaff is often used to feed livestock:



Plastic winnowing trays, similar shape to @2manybooks 's miniature tray:

 

both scoop and tray are obviously miniatures , ......

 

Yes, miniatures. But models, the same shapes as the larger versions used in the culture of origin.

 

Used by the little people.

 

A potentially useful tidbit - in response to the query "Jane Angus in Maine 19th century" with the addition "travelled to Africa" google AI responded with -

"The detail that she traveled to Africa makes it highly likely you are searching for Jeanie Angus (often recorded as Jane Angus). [1]
Historical immigration and ship passenger logs from December 1879 record a Jeanie Angus arriving via the port of Portland, Maine. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was common for women named Jeanie to be documented interchangeably as "Jane" in official records. [1]

Why the Maine and Africa Connection Fits

• The Portland Transit Route: In the late 19th century, Portland, Maine served as a major winter port for transatlantic travel and Canadian steamship lines. Travelers, missionaries, and families journeying between Europe, Canada, and global destinations like Africa frequently transitioned through Portland's busy docks. [1]
• The Missionary & Travel Movement: If she was an American or British woman traveling to Africa in the late 1800s, she most likely traveled as a Christian missionary, a medical volunteer, or the spouse of a diplomat/engineer."

 

Isn't that interesting? Didn't know that about Jeanie vs. Jane. And date is what I'd expect.

Debora

 

If we can trust AI.

I believe Jenny was another familiar variation, but Jeanie seems to be a particularly Scottish thing.

 

Jenny was Welsh, I think, or Cornish. Or both. The woman who was almost my great-grandmother was a Cornishwoman named Jenny, born 1872. She died very young indeed in 1890 and Great-Grandpa remarried in 1895.

 

Yes, it is very Scottish.
Isn't Jenny short for Jennifer? So a different origin of the name altogether?

 

It can go both ways. It's a short-name for Jennifer, an old friend goes by Jenny but is legally Jennifer, but also apparently a name in itself. My sort-of relative Jenny's name on her tombstone is "Jenny". It may be used as a Jane variant too.