Male dance crest "aku onu"
Nigeria, Jukun
not available anymore
Provenance
collected in situ (1950’s)Berndt Helleberg, Stockholm, Sweden
Size
H: 37 cm
L: 69,5 cm
H: 14.6 inch
L: 27.4 inch
Description
wood, matt patina, kaolin, reddish pigment, oval mask face without recognizable facial features, carved with a cylindrical projection supporting an oval crest which is decorated with zigzag pattern in bas-relief, pierced around the rim, rep. (breakages at the projection and the mask rim), traces of insect caused damage and abrasion;
according to early research, this entirely abstract dance crest should represent a human head. According to C. K. Meek the openworked part depicts the ringlet, which the Jukun men used to wear on their clean-shaved heads. Thus the mask should have been worn horizontally on the head.