Cimier anthropomorphe ·  Nigéria, Idoma / Igbo-Izzi · ID: 3048670

Description

wood, pigments, base

This headpiece, an idealised image of female beauty, represents a female ancestral spirit.

This type is based directly on the principle of crest masks used during warrior dances, where seductive female crests respond to male masks consisting of real human skulls.

This particular type of mask was probably introduced late, between the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in Idoma territories.

Littérature comparée

Lebas, Alain (ed.), Arts of Nigeria in French Private Collections, Milan 2012, p. 279, cat. 130

Publications

AHDRC: 0094156