Anthropo- / zoomorphic mask with crowning animal pair · Nigeria, Isoko / Urhobo · ID: 3047392
sold
EUR 2,700
Provenance
Old British Collection (coll. in the 1960s / 70s)Size
H: 45,5 cm
H: 17.9 inch
Description
wood, kaolin, red and blue pigment, rest.
For a stylistically very similar mask (but with figural crowning) see AHDRC 0171548.
Isoko art is similar to that of the Urhobo and both groups also have cultural similarities. Both of them perform elaborate festivals of masked dances dedicated to “ohworu”, the “edjo” (protective spirits) of the water (“edjo ame” or “edjorame”) and of the earth (“edjo oto” or “edjoto”).
Comparing literature
Foss, Perkins (ed.), Where Gods and Mortals meet, New York 2004, p. 101 Lebas, Alain (ed.), Arts of Nigeria in French Private Collections, Milan 2012, p. 266