Elephant spirit mask "ogbodo enyi" · Nigeria, Izzi · ID: 3037799
Reginald Groux, Paris, France
Description
heavy wood, remains of polychrome paint, big elephant ears, schematized elephant head, distinctive painting in black and white, separate carved conical eyes, dam., cracks, missing parts (tusks), slight traces of abrasion, small missing parts, base;
Izzi masks are controlled by the four male age groups, at which the members of the senior group owned the biggest examples, which represented the most dreaded and most powerful ghosts. In former times this mask type, which always showed an aggressive and violent behavior, controlled the social order, but nowadays they exclusively appear for entertainment. The holes at the lower rim served for attachment of raphia fibres covering the head of the dancer, who wore a long costume made of plaited plant fibres.
The object Elephant spirit mask “ogbodo enyi” with the object ID 3037799 was last part of the auction 78th tribal art auction at October 18, 2014 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 311 achieved a sales price of EUR 6,300.
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Comparing literature
Hahner-Herzog, Iris, Das Zweite Gesicht, Genf, München, New York 1997, ill. 55