Mask "mma ji" ·  Nigéria, Igbo-Afikpo · ID: 3035540

Description

wood, lusterless patina, polychrome paint, carved with three tubular projections and a sickle-shaped horn on the forehead, decorated with geometrical forms, accentuated by changing colours, plaited grass fibre band around the rim, rep. (breakage forehead), traces of insect caused damage and abrasion, socle;
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 “okumpa” masquerades and other dramatizations.