Context (Related Documents)
Labelled in interior on white oblong label [in blue ballpoint]: 'Ibo Amasere' red smudge on label. 'Fishing line was threaded through raffia for display purposes. Removed from mask as not original.
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., 1984. The Art of Eastern Nigeria. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press. P. 213. And in Jones, G. I., 1989. Ibo Art. Shire Ethnography. Shire Publications. P.13, Nkporotribe, Cross River Ibo Mba dancer. Also illustrated with similar masks in Ottenburg, 1975. Masked Rituals of the Afikpo. Fig.12 described as Mma ji style.
Event Date 4/6/2014
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Stylised mask for Isiugo grade initiation masquerade. Wood, face with central projections and a hook-shaped hairstyle, both covered in black and white pigment. ?Ogu style. A plaited string of raffia sits on the rim of the mask which displays several modern repairs. Condition: Fair.
Event Date 4/6/2014
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Wooden mask. Along the vertical mid-line are four projections across the facial area and a raised hook-shaped hairstyle with patterning in black and white pigment, possibly Ogu style. Upon the reverse is a band of plaited plant fibre. Described in accession register as for use in Isiugo grade initiation masquerade.
Event Date 29/9/2021
Author: Jane Pettitt