Mask

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Description

light wood, painted with black, red and white pigment, tapering projection with drilled holes on both sides, probably for insertion of feather ornament, bow-shaped nose, incised zigzag decor, slightly dam., abrasion of paint, rep. (small breakage at the left rim fixed by nail), metal base;
the Ada, a sub-group of the eastern Igbo, embraces seven clusters of villages. The best known is the Afikpo, to which all Ada masks have been attributed, probably wrongly. The masquerades are organized by the men’s secret society in the village and are performed in public in the dry season. Mask wearers are regarded as spirits.

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Comparing literature

Cole, Herbert M., Aniakor, Chike C., Igbo Arts, Community and Cosmos, Los Angeles 1984, p. 172, ill. 286 Lebas, Alain (ed.), Arts of Nigeria in French Private Collections, Milan 2012, p. 274

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