(MIDDLE BENUE)
20th c.
Jointed, carved wood, paint, metal
57 1/4" x 16" x 16"
Provenance: Allan Stone Collection, New York
The largest and most ethnically and geographically complex within Nigeria’s Benue subregions is the Middle Benue. Most contemporary ethnic identities within this area crystallized only during the colonial period, because the British needed them for administrative purposes, and local people embraced them out of a sense of belonging. Distinctive to the arts of the Middle Benue region are large and dramatic mask configurations were used by several neighboring peoples living on both sides of the Middle Benue River—the Wurkun/Bikwin groups, the Mumuye, and the Jukun. These include masks in human form, hybridized human-animal horizontal masks, and remarkable vertical masks that may have functioned as “walking sculptures.” These objects appeared during harvest and planting festivals to bestow blessings of agricultural success and community well-being. Among the Wurkun/Bikwin peoples, they also incarnated ancestors who returned to the human world in spectacular ceremonies. They are enigmatic because of their form—some of them clearly cannot be worn since the space between their lower planks is too narrow for a person’s head to fit—and because there are no detailed field observations about how they were performed. It is not hard to imagine the impressive appearance of these towering impersonations — lumbering en masse, slowly forward or sideways, with their heads soaring high above those of the living.
References
Marla C. Berns, ed. Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley. Fowler Museum at UCLA, 2011

Jointed by an old field repair and meant to stabilize an old break. Condition reports are rendered as specialist opinion by the staff of the Auction House and/or independent consultants and not as statements of fact. We do not guarantee the content of written or verbal condition reports. The absence of a condition report does not imply that there are no condition issues with the lot. ?? ?Please call us at (609) 397-9374 or e-mail info@ragoarts.com with any questions about this lot at least 24 hours prior to auction.?