H x W x D: 53.8 x 15.1 x 14.2 cm (21 3/16 x 5 15/16 x 5 9/16 in.)
Type:
Mask
Geography:
Nigeria
Date:
Early to mid-20th century
Label Text:
Carried aloft by a male dancer, this headdress was paraded in the Owu masquerade, a secular performance featuring a procession of human and animal subjects that characterize village life. It depicts a beautiful young woman whose attributes--a ritual staff, bracelets (probably meant to represent ivory) and a necklace of animal teeth--denote high status and authority.
Description:
Carved wood masquerade headdress surmounted by a standing female figure wearing an elaborated curvilinear headdress and holding a staff/stick in the proper right hand. The forehead, neck, shoulders, bracelets and hands, legs and feet are blackened. The elbows and buttocks are planed off and blackened. The raised scarification on the face is also accentuated with black pigment. Red pigment is applied to the corners of the eyes, on the arms, neckace pendant and along a line down the center of the back. The self-base is decorated with a carved triangle motif. Pigments are red, black and white.
Provenance:
Marc and Denyse Ginsberg, Rye, New York, -- to 1977
Noble Endicott, New York, 1977 to 1987
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