Maiden spirit face mask "agbogho mmwo" ·  Nigeria, Igbo · ID: 3040487

Description

wood, matt patina, polychrome paint, sharp cut facial features with thin lips, visible teeth and accentuated scarification marks, crowned by a high-towering openworked coiffure with projecting lobes on both sides, remains of a costume, rep. (breakages coiffure), cracks, small missing parts, slight traces of abrasion, base;
the maiden masks are danced by men, although they honor young marriageable girls and unnamed ancestors. Most subregions in Igbo country feature these maskes, each in its local style. The occasions for such masks to dance in public were many: dry-season festivals, one of which was called “the fame of maidens”; second burial ceremonies. Rites honouring village deities or plentiful harvests. The dancers were clothed in coloured tight costumes with false breasts.

The object Maiden spirit face mask “agbogho mmwo” with the object ID 3040487 was last part of the auction 83rd Tribal Art Auction at May 28, 2016 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 268 achieved a sales price of EUR 6,500.

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Comparing literature

Wittmer, Marcilene K. & William Arnett, Three Rivers of Nigeria, Atlanta 1978, p. 17, ill. 36

Publications

Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Afrikanische Kunst in Deutschen Privatsammlungen, München 1973, p. 205, ill. 285; Jahn, Fred (ed), Kunst aus Schwarzafrika, München 1979, p. 15; Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Africana, München 1988, p. 78, ill. F12

AHDRC: 0094490