Context (Display)
Copper wire removed from reverse as probably for display purposes in donor's home.
Event Date 23/6/2014
Author: Remke van der Velden

Description (Physical description)
Wooden mask of a hippo, Utobo, which was used in the Owu masquerade. A few abrasions especially on the tip of the ears and nose. A deep hole is visible in the centre of the head at the front. On the reverse a large circular cavity has been carved out. Large wooden splinter sits loosely in a slit on the reverse. Condition: Good.
Event Date 4/6/2014
Author: maa

Description (Labels & Markings)
Written on reverse of mask twice , in white ink: '94'.
Event Date 4/6/2014
Author: Remke van der Velden

Context (Display)
Exhibited in the Micro Gallery MAA from 13 March 2013 - 19 May 2014 as a means to raise awareness and funding for the acquisition of the G.I. Jones Collection.
The exhibition label reads: 'Hippopotamus mask, Utobo. Wood. Central Ijo. Nembe, Niger Delta, Nigeria. 1930s. This mask represents a hippo, utobo, submerged below the waterline. It would have been worn in the Owu masquerade. The powerful water spirits or Owu control animals and nature. It was worn by a male dancer on the top of his head, facing upwards, and was associated with the masquerade character called Nwere Utobo (Hippo's Wife), in the Rumuji Owu play.'
Event Date 4/6/2014
Author: Remke van der Velden

Context (References)
Illustrated in G.I. Jones: Jones, G. I., 1984. The Art of Eastern Nigeria. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, p. 167, Fig.74 as 'Utobo (Hippopotous)'.
Noted as 'Other delta Styles, On the northern margin of the Kalabari area and extending inland up the Orashi and Sombreiro rives were masquerades of the Owu type in which the three characteristic forms were a head mask called Utobo (hippopotomus), a head-dress in the form of a predatory fish [note 25 Fagg. Northern Nigerian Images, P. 111.] and a human head of the kind I have distinguished as the Delta heads (figs. 14 and 75). The character of Utobo (or Otobo) was prominent in the Kalabari Sekiapu but carved in a differnt style. Some of the characters in Central Ijo and Eastern Ijo masquerades were represented by ahead, but again the style was different.' Jones 1984:169
Jones, G. I., 1989. Ibo Art. Shire Ethnography. Shire Publications.
Event Date 4/6/2014
Author: Remke van der Velden

Context (CMS Context)
Gwilyam Iwan 'G.I.' Jones (1904 - 1995) was a colonial officer in southern Nigeria from 1926 to 1946, before becoming Lecturer in Social Anthropology at Cambridge and a Fellow of Jesus College. He undertook further periods of fieldwork and published major books on southern Nigeria that are still highly regarded for their sensitivity to historical complexity.
For more than twenty years, MAA has cared for Jones’ exceptionally rich photographic archive, which documents the great masquerade traditions and other aspects of the culture of the region. In February 2013 the Museum acquired part of Jones’ personal collection of artefacts, assembled over the decades he worked in Igboland, the Cross River and other regions. The group of masks, carvings and other works represent vital aspects of belief, history and art over the middle twentieth century.
The G.I. Jones collection of West African material was purchased on February 1 2014 from his widow Ursula Jones who generously allowed MAA to select from G.I’s personal collection in her home. Purchase funded partly through donations by Jesus College, John Goodliffe, Margaret Risbeth and the Wenbam Smith Family (as of June 3 2014).
Featured in Jones, G.I.,1984. The Art of Eastern Nigeria. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press. p. 167. Also referenced in Hecht, Barry and Sieber, Roy. Eastern Nigerian Art from the Toby and Barry Hecht Collection. African Arts Spring 2002.

Event Date 4/6/2014
Author: maa

Context (References)
A similar mask was illustrated by UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center (2002) and noted as 'There is one other mask of this exact type in the literature and two in a Belgian private collection. G.I. Jones calls it "Utobo (Hippopotamus), Owu masquerade, Nembe State, Central Ijo" (1984:167). The eastern Ijo of Rivers State consist of the Nembe, Okrika, Bonny, and Kalabari. According to Jones, Nembe sculptures differed slightly from those of the better-known Kalabari villages. However, the same secret society, Ekine, was found among the Brass Ijo (Nembe) as among the Kalabari (1984:163-69). Robin Horton relates that a small fishing village might have masquerades representing thirty or forty water spirits of the Ekine society. Each of the water spirits has a festival at which it is entertained by society members. The cycle of festivals is performed in a fixed order (Horton 1960:27-34).

Each masquerade has its own distinctive headdress, costume, drum rhythm, dance steps, and tableau. An expert dancer impersonates the spirit owner, causing the spirit to control the dancer's movements. When the headdresses are worn, the carvings face upward and may be obscured by the costume. The carving has more to do with attracting the spirit than with producing a depiction for the spectators (Anderson 1981:149-50). For another description and photographs illustrating the use of Otobo masks, see Chadwick 1953:30-33.'

UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center (2002). Eastern Nigerian Art from the Toby and Barry Hecht Collection, in African Arts, Vol. 35, No. 1, Special Issue: The Niger Delta and beyond (Spring), pp. 56-77+95-96
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3337826
Event Date 1/4/2021
Author: rachel hand

Context (Analysis)
Filmed with Dr James Fox by Keo films for a BB2 programme provisionally titled Nature, Culture, Us. To be broadcast in Autumn to coincide with the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 1 – 12 November 2021.
Event Date 12/4/2021
Author: rachel hand

Description (Physical description)
Utobo, wooden mask in the shape of a hippo head. Used in the Owu masquerade. Central circular cut-out hole between the two pointed ears. Four teeth, small rectangular tongue.
Event Date 22/9/2021
Author: Louise Puckett