Mask with hinged jaw "idiok ekpo"

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Description

wood, encrusted greyish brown patina, plant fibre, eyes with hanging lids and prominent tear sacks, plug-shaped scarifications at the temples, slightly dam., minor missing parts, socle;
among the masquerades of the “ekpo” society exists a number of quite different types of masks, which may be separated in two groups: the “ugly ghost” masks, “idiok”, which represent restless spirits, and the “mfon” masks which represent those spirits who have already reached paradise.

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Comparing literature

Wittmer, Marcilene K., Arnett, William, Three Rivers of Nigeria, Atlanta 1978, ill. 172

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