Context (CMS Context)
Oblong label tied to the object reads [in red ink manuscript]: 'Collected/Unniguedo/Awkuzu/Carved by/Nvajo of N Viwelli/1939.' On reverse [in black ink printed]: 'Mr G. Iwan Jones,/Nigerian Administrative service.' Object numbered [in white ink]: '56' in interior. Written in the interior of the object [in pencil manuscript]: 'Awk uzu'.
Event Date 4/6/2014
Author: Remke van der Velden

Context (CMS Context)
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 for 2014.292, 2014.294 and 2014.300 reads: 'Three Maiden masks. Wood, kaolin and other pigments. Awka, Unniguedo Awkuzu and Nri/ Awka regions, Nigeria. These masks represent innocent maidens and embody ideals of youthful feminine grace and beauty such as a slender body and light complexion. Elaborately dressed hair and small features are emphasised by face painting, uli, shown by the red and black designs, or facial tattoos, ichi. The mask with the crested hairstyle would have been danced with grandmother, mother, and daughter masks in the Ogbugulu mau masquerade. Maiden masks are used in agricultural festivals to promote harvests, fertility and prosperity. They also escort ghosts of respected elders to the spirit world. They belong to a group of masks which idealise the qualities of young women and the powers of older men, and present oppositions: beauty/bestiality; feminine/masculine; black/white.'
Event Date 4/6/2014
Author: Remke van der Velden

Context (CMS Context)
Publications by G.I. Jones: Jones, G. I., 1984. The Art of Eastern Nigeria. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.
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., 1989. Ibo Art. Shire Ethnography. Shire Publications. P. 18.

Event Date 4/6/2014
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Maiden mask of wood and pigment. White face with curved black and wood colour triangles stretched diagonally across the cheeks and forehead. black lips and ear lobes. Teeth visible, overhanging brow. Holes visible along the edge of the mask, possibly for raffia attachments. Small piece of string tied through one of the holes. Condition: Good.
Event Date 4/6/2014
Author: maa