Big mask "idiok ekpo" · Nigeria, Ibibio · ID: 3036066
Description
wood, encrusted dark brown patina, expressive facial features and flat headgear, originally provided with hinged jaw (now missing), dam., missing parts through insect caused damage, cracks, traces of abrasion, base;
among the masquerades of the “ekpo” society exists a number of quite different types of masks, which may be separated in two groups: the “ugly ghost” masks, “idiok”, which represent restless spirits, and the “mfon” masks which represent those spirits who have already reached paradise.
The object Big mask “idiok ekpo” with the object ID 3036066 was last part of the auction 75th tribal art auction at November 30, 2013 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 326.
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Comparing literature
Robbins, Warren M. & Nancy Ingram Nooter, African Art in American Collections, o.O. 1989, p. 268, ill. 700