Headdress / helmet mask "vakono" ·  Nigeria, Mumuye · ID: 3049326

Description

wood, red pigment, base

According to Strybol, this type of mask is called “vakono”. “Vakono” is said to have been used to protect the crops by driving the monkeys away from the cultivated fields. “Kono” means monkey in Mumuye. Berns already referred to this type of mask as a monkey mask (Berns, 2011, p. 326, 10.20.). Strybol further reports that “vakono” often played the role of the buffoon in the ritual dances.

According to other sources (Sieber and Ververs), “vakono” is supposed to be female and to represent the partner / consort of the buffalo mask “vabo(n). “Vabo(n)” appears in ceremonies of the “vabong” society in the dry season as well as in ceremonies of the “vadosong” society in the rainy season and thus plays a central role in the ritual life of the Mumuye.

The object Headdress / helmet mask “vakono” with the object ID 3049326 was last part of the auction 99th Auction at November 12, 2022 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 270 achieved a sales price of EUR 600.

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Comparing literature

Strybol, Jan, Art and the Sacred in Mumuyeland, Oostkamp 2018, p. 60 f. Berns, Marla C. et. al., Arts of the Benue River Valley, Los Angeles 2011, p. 326, ill. 10.20 Evers, Christophe, Art of the Upper Benue River, Brussels 2003, p. 19