Mask "agbogho mmwo" ("maiden spirit") · Nigeria, Igbo · ID: 3043045
Emile Deletaille, Brussels, Belgium
Guy van Rijn, Brussels, Belgium (1987)
Dutch Private Collection, Eindhoven
Description
wood, polychrome paint, fine carved, elaborate ornamental facial tattoos incised and in bas relief, min. dam., small missing parts (rim), slight traces of abrasion, base.
Northern Igbo masks take many forms: helmets of various configurations, face masks and a variety of headdress and crest types. The “agbogho mmwo” mask type symbolizes the ideals of juvenile female beauty and - with the ghostly white kaolin face refers to the spirits of the venerated ancestors. The mask is worn by young men on harvest festivities (“yams rites”) and on annual ceremonies in honour of the earth spirit “ane”, as well as on pompous funerals of members of the society. The dancers were clothed in coloured tight costumes with false breasts.
The object Mask “agbogho mmwo” (“maiden spirit”) with the object ID 3043045 was last part of the auction 87th Tribal Art Auction at November 11, 2017 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 302.
You can find more Masks and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.
Comparing literature
Fagaly, William, Ancestors of Congo Square, New Orleans 2011, p. 212 f.
Publications
AHDRC: 0094547