1938.15.45

Collection type

Object

Description

Carved wooden figure of a man with a head in one hand & a knife in the other. With two horns protruding from top of the head. Painted black, pink & yellow. [FB 28/04/2014]

Geographical reference

Nigeria

Africa > Western Africa > Nigeria

Southern Nigeria Anambra state Awka

Cultural groups

Awka 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 Painted, Process Carved

Dimensions

Length: max 485 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1938.15.45

Associated publications

Illustrated in colour (PRM0001428665546) as Figure 22 on page 42 of From Idol to Art—African 'Objects-with-Power: A Challenge for Missionaries, Anthropologists and Museum Curators (African Studies Centre African Studies Collection, Vol. 59), by Harrie Leyten (Leiden: African Studies Centre, 2015). Caption (same page): 'Figure 22 Ikenga with a machete and a head, Ibo, Nigeria.' See also the entry for this image on page 295 in the 'Index of Figures': '22 Ikenga with machete and severed head, Ibo, from Nimo-Awka area, Nigeria. Wood painted black, pink and yellow. Height: 48.5 cm. Collected by Gwilym Iwan Jones in 1937. Collection: Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford. Catalogue no. 1938.15.45. It shows horns, a machete and a severed head and a stool. The genitals are clearly visible and the face has ichi markings. All the elements in this figure clearly refer to a successful manhunt by its owner, the personal achievement that allows a young man to set up house, get married and start a family. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.' [JC 21 4 2017]

Search terms: Figure, Religion, Religious Object