Mask "mma ji" ·  Nigeria, Igbo-Afikpo · ID: 3035418

Description

wood, black and white paint, carved with three tubular projections and a sickle-shaped horn on the forehead, cut with geometrical forms, accentuated by changing colours, min. dam., fine cracks, slight traces of abrasion;
the upright projection on this mask represents a yam-cutting knife (“mma ji”) which gives the mask its name. The mask is a popular Afikpo type and has a wide range of usage, eg. for harvest festivities and inititation rites of young boys, for their popular “okumkpa” masquerades and other dramatizations.

Comparing literature

Wittmer, Marcilene K. & William Arnett, Three Rivers of Nigeria, Atlanta 1978, p. 32