Description (Labels & Markings)
MAA tag attached with string reads: 'Z 11910 / WOODEN MASK / AGENIBODE, S. NIGERIA / AFRICA / N.W. THOMAS COLLN'
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

Description (Labels & Markings)
Written in pencil on interior of mask: '2722'
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

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 (Physical description)
Mask (aule).
Catalogue card continues in different handwriting: 'Of wood, with 2 combs in the hair, large rings of resin set with berries around the eyes, and scarification marks on the face. The face is very cadaverous; the jaw projecting, with an open mouth which displays the teeth. Traces of white, blue and black paint'.


Event Date
Author: maa

Context (Related Documents)
NB. Pencil drawing of object on back of catalogue card. Note reads 'not actually many berries left'.
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

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)
Mounted on a wooden mount. Section of the back of the mask broken off but still present. Small fragments are broken off the combs. [K. Sutton]
Event Date 4/6/2001
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Wooden mask. Ohioma Pogoson questions the provenance of this mask as it has very strong Igbo stylistic features, which corresponds with Igbo mask Af1954,23.492 in the British Museum’s collection. No Thomas label available. It is possible however that the mask travelled to Agenibode or that its maker was heavily influenced by the Igbo. The mask represents a face with an elaborate coiffure in which two combs have been carved, on each side of the head. It has a triangular face, which tapers down into the jaw. The mask is mounted on a stand probably for display purposes and is in a very poor condition with one piece of the mask hanging on to the rest of the piece by one strand of fibre.
[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 29/1/2013
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Carved wooden face mask with helmet portion, elaborate headdress and resin around the eyes holding red seeds. The face is narrow, with prominent nose and mouth with teeth. There are small ears at the sides of the head, with scarification marks on the temple and forehead. The eyes are circular holes through the mask surrounded with ?resin in which one red seed remains. The headdress has incised spiral decoration in the lower portion, with two combs rising either side of the head. There appears to have originally been a central crest which is now missing, with a row of circular projections along either side. The whole mask is painted with white, black and blue pigments. The headdress is continued at the back on the helmet portion, which has been broken and part is missing. A section at the back is broken but still attached with fibres and cane strips which are threaded through holes around the edges of the mask. There appears to have been some attempt at local repair, and there are two metal nails driven into the rear of the mask along the break. Only one if the red seeds remains around the eyes (with another bagged), and there are pieces of the combs, crest and rear of the mask missing. The mask was mounted on a wooden square base with a single upright screwed directly into the back of the face (mount removed 01/11/18, KMD).
Event Date 31/10/2018
Author: Katrina Dring

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

Event Date 31/10/2018
Author: Katrina Dring

Conservation (Assessment Only)
CON.2024.5853 | Assessment Only
Event Date 2/2/2024
Author: Stephanie De Roemer