Elephant spirit mask "ogbodo enyi" · Nigeria, Izzi · ID: 3041195

Name: Elephant spirit mask "ogbodo enyi"
SKU: 3041195
Availability: Discontinued

not available anymore

Provenance

Kegel-Konietzko, Hamburg, Germany (1988)

Size

H: 49 cm

H: 19.3 inch

Description

wood, distinctive painting in black and white, schematized elephant head, separate carved conical eyes, dam., cracks, missing parts, traces of insect caused damage, abrasion of paint;
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 3041195 was last part of the auction 84th Tribal Art Auction at November 5, 2016 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 304.

You can find more Masks and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.