Anthropomorphic headdress of the "oglinye" society ·  Nigeria, Idoma / Boki · ID: 3046271

Description

wood, colour pigments, metal, basketry, crack (neck), hair lugs partly separately carved and fastened, originally covered with hide, base

These crests depict ancestral female spirits who performed in war dances, as a counterpart to male masks that were originally supposed to be made of real human skulls.

The crest shows the typical hairstyle that was achieved with the help of a special paste and is reminiscent of a type of seated female figures, as used by the Idoma in fertility rites for the water spirit “Anjenu”.

Comparing literature

Lebas, Alain (ed.), Arts of Nigeria in French Private Collections, Milan 2012, ill. 130