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1938.15.14

Mask of a female probably associated with the Okorosia masquerade [ZM 20/11/2013]

1938.15.14

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Collection type
Object
Description
Mask of a female probably associated with the Okorosia masquerade [ZM 20/11/2013]
Long description
Face mask with human features from Owu play. Carved and painted wooden mask. The mask is painted black and white. The eyes, mouth, nose and ears are outlined in black. The eyebrows and marks on the face are solid black. The eyes are perforated slits. The hair is painted black and is carved in locks. The mask has a headdress marked with the letters O and K. [MdeA 23 4 1998] There are two holes at each side of the mask
Geographical reference
Nigeria
Africa > Western Africa > Nigeria
Southern Nigeria
Cultural groups
Southern Igbo
Person
Field collector Gwilym Iwan Jones
PRM source Gwilym Iwan Jones
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1937
Date collected
1937
Acquisition information
Donated: 1938
Materials and processes
Material Wood Plant, Material Pigment, Process Carved, Process Painted, Process Perforated
Dimensions
Width: max 152 mm, Length: max 400 mm, Depth: max 91 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1938.15.14
Research and responses

In the G.I. Jones photographic archive at Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA), Cambridge, are black and white negatives (identification numbers N.61413.GIJ and N.61447.GIJ) of this mask. On the MAA photographic catalogue both images are classified as Igbo mask from the Cross River area with the following description: 'A documentation photograph of an Owu mask. It consists of a wooden face masks of a white faced woman with an oval shaped face, slit eyes, long nose, open mouth, protruding ears, eyebrows, ears with holes, and an elaborate dark braided hairstyle in the "style" of an Ikwerri woman. The braids are incised with markings and two pieces of hair curl onto the cheeks of the mask. On top of the hair is a piece of wood with the letters OK.' [ZM 06/11/2013]

John Picton examined this mask during a consultation visit to look at Igbo masks on 12 November 2013 and noted the following: This is a southern Igbo Okorosia mask because of the style and appearance of the carving. This represents a female, which is evident from the white-face and hairstyle. There are images of Okorosia masks very similar to this in Herbert M. Cole and Chike C. Aniakor, Igbo Arts: Community and Cosmos (Los Angeles: University of California, 1984), see for example figure 312 on page 199 and figure 316 on page 203. [ZM 20/11/2013]

Search terms: Mask

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