Deformation mask · Nigéria, Ibibio · ID: 3033307
Vendu
500 €
Provenance
American Private Collection, New YorkHarald & Ursula Suhr, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada / Germany (1978)
Description
wood, blackish brown patina, red and white paint, slanting eyes with vaulted lids, a deformed nose-mouth-area, missing parts, traces of insect caused damage and abrasion;
illness or deformation mask, belonging to the “idiok” masks, which were used to be danced at masquerades of the “ekpo” society, depicting people suffering of untreated leprosy, gangosa, syphilitic lesions, or mucosal leishmaniasis.
Littérature comparée
Herreman, Frank, To cure and protect, New York 1999, p. 23, ill. 13