West Africa, Nigeria, Igbo peoples, ca. early to mid 20th century CE. A well-preserved, fine example of a wood mask with a human face and crested coiffure, painted mainly bright white, with black details and black hair. There is also some green pigment on the hair. The face has deepset eyes beneath a heavy brow, a tiny nose, and a pouting mouth full of teeth. The Igbo use masks as incarnated spirits of the dead; this is why they are painted white, which is the color of the spirit. Masked dancers would wear elaborate costumes, including being sometimes covered with mirrors, and would don the masks and costumes so that their true identities disappeared, subsumed by the spirit they inhabited. Masks like this one often appear in pairs - one representing a boy dressed as a girl, and one representing the girl whom he is satirizing. This is an example of the latter. Size: 5" W x 9" H (12.7 cm x 22.9 cm)

Provenance: ex Adeon Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, USA, acquired prior to 1970

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#130739

Surface wear commensurate with age, with small chips, surface cracks, and nicks. Pigment in nice remaining condition as shown. Loss to top of crest and tip of nose.