Mask

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Description

wood, matt patina, polychrome paint, face with tear sacs and filed incisors, crowned by a fully plastic head, min. dam., missing parts through insect caused damage (back), traces of abrasion, socle;
probably a depiction of “mami wata”. “Mami wata” is often described as a mermaid-like figure, half woman (often nude) and half fish or serpent. In other tales she is fully human in appearance (though never human). The existence and spiritual importance of “mami wata” is deeply rooted in the ancient tradition and mythology of the coastal southeastern Nigerians (Efik, Ibibio and Anang people).

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Comparing literature

Drewal, Henry John, Mami Wata, Los Angeles 2008, p. 118, ill. 6.2

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