Description (Physical description)
Mask for oitsa (agbadzi).
On catalogue card in different handwriting: 'Long and narrow, of wood, with a pointed chin. Two depressions have been carved out in the middle, and these constitute the face. There are two holes for the eyes. The nose is indicated by the long straight ridge of wood left in the middle. The mouth is barely indicated. It bears traces of white and purple (?) (red?) paint, and has holes in the sides for attaching it to head of wearer.

Event Date
Author: maa

Context (Auction / Sale)
Purchased using money from Prof. A.A. Bevan’s subscription to the Museum’s Accessions Fund.
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Labels & Markings)
Marked in pencil on rear of mask: '2721'
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Labels & Markings)
Thomas/Bevan label attached with string reads: 'T.C.2721 / MASK'
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

Context (Related Documents)
NB. Pencil drawing of object on back of catalogue card.
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

Context (Field collection)
Collected by Northcote W. Thomas in Edo State, Agenibode (now Agene(g)bode) town. The inhabitants belong to the Edo ethnic group, and also identify themselves further as Yekhee people. The language they speak is also referred to as Etsako. See Blench, R. M., 1995. The Work of N.W. Thomas as Government Anthropologist in Nigeria. The Nigerian Field, 60, pp.29.

Event Date
Author: Remke van der Velden

Context (Related Documents)
See E 1910.118 and E 1913.3 records for further details about the Thomas Collection from Nigeria. [T.Cotterill]
Event Date 7/5/2001
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Previously attached to wooden display mount. Some fibre remaining in one of the holes on the side of the mask. Crack in the wood on the top of the mask. [K. Sutton]

Event Date 12/6/2001
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Wooden face mask, strongly schematised and with an elongated face. The eyes are pierced holes. All facial features are represented, except the ears. Used in the past because the fibre is still attached to the holes around the base. This mask was probably for boys’ masquerades and made by the boys themselves as the carving is amateurish and unprofessional. The face ends in a tapering jaw and chin. The eyes are holes and sunken deep in the face whereas the nose strongly protrudes. This style is typical to Agenibode. The lips are indicated by a depression. The mask is covered in a greyish substance; Ohioma Pogoson thinks this could be cement and that the wood is possibly from a construction site where it was taken. This idea is re-enforced as it appears that the mask has been carved from a pre-existing wooden peg.
[Information provided by Dr Ohioma Pogoson, Honorary Curator of the Museum of the Institute for African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. January 2013.]
Event Date 30/1/2013
Author: maa

Context (Other)
Similar especially to Z 11911, Z 11913, Z 11914, Z 11916 and some stylistic similarities to Z 11918B, Z 11921[Information provided by Dr Ohioma Pogoson, Honorary Curator of the Museum of the Institute for African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. January 2013.]
Event Date 30/1/2013
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Roughly carved wooden face mask with elongated chin, and possible beard and moustache. The mask is very long and thin, with a small cap-like portion. The eyes are small, round holes cut through recessed rectangles either side of the prominent nose. The mouth is indicated by a shallow groove below, and there is also a groove across the forehead. The whole mask is coloured with white, ?orange and ?blue pigments, and there appears to be a beard and moustache painted around the mouth in blue. There are holes drilled into the sides of the mask, some still retaining pieces of string. There are two cracks in the cap-like portion, one of which has an additional piece of wood stuck into it possibly from a missing attachment. The stump of a luggage tag is stored in a bag labelled Z 11909, but there is no writing remaining.
Event Date 30/10/2018
Author: Katrina Dring

Context (Amendments / updates)
Record updated as part of the Museum Affordances project 2018-2020

Event Date 30/10/2018
Author: Katrina Dring