IDNO

P.71507.GIJ

Description

Obugulu (Ghost) Masquerade
A group of three masqueraders wearing white maiden sprit masks and dressed in harlequin-like costumes. The figure to the right is wearing an elaborate headdress with a large carved superstructure consisting of carvings (a European on horseback), feathers, tassels, and whisks. Another man is in the left-hand side of the photograph assisting the masqueraders. In the background are spectators and trees.

Place

W Africa; Nigeria; South Eastern Nigeria; Onitsha province; Nri Awka; Amobia village

Cultural Affliation

Igbo [historically Ibo]; Isuochi

Named Person

Photographer

Jones, Gwilliam Iwan (known as G.I.)

Collector / Expedition

Date

circa 1930 - 1939

Collection Name

Jones collection

Source

Jones, Gwilliam Iwan (known as G.I.)

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.71504.GIJ to P.71662.GIJ were kept in box 4, now numbered C301/.
P.71504.GIJ to P.71529.GIJ were found wrapped in paper, now numbered C301/1/.

Publication: Similar photographs of Obugulu Mau are found in Jones, 1984, pp.61 and 62.

Context: Jones provides a detailed discussion of masquerades in Eastern Nigeria. He defines masquerades as “spectacular and dramatic performances in which the principal action was provided by actors whose true identities were concealed from the audience. The essential characteristic was this disguising of the identity of the actor by covering his face and, as a rule, his body. He or she became another personality. This personality was defined in the visually in the costume which the actor wore and dramatically by his actions.The costume might be made more realistic and the character more precise by the addition of a face, a mask, or its anonymity and abnormality might be enhanced by giving it no face at all and by hiding the actor’s own face behind a piece of plain cloth or net. In some cases, the visual element might be removed completely. The character could be heard but not seen by the uninitiated on pain of death,” (Jones, 1984,p.56).

In reference to the photograph, The number and variety of masks and masquerades [in the Nri/Awka Igbo area of Ontisha province] was considerable: they were referred to generically as Mau (Ghost) and one of the more recent was Obugulu Mau, in which the characters were a grandmother, a mother, and a number of daughter masks attired in bright harlequin-like tights and wearing helmet masks or masks with a head-dress made up of a superstructure of wire and cane covered in brightly coloured wools or streamers to which cloth or wooden figures were attached.” (Jones,1984,p 143)

In relationship to this photograph, the masquerade Obugulu Mau, was very popular in the 1930s and consisted of a small group of female helmet-masked characters in brightly coloured harlequin-like tights (Jones, 1984. p.60).

Aniakor and Cole discuss the maiden spirit masks or the “The
Fame of Maidens,” Ude Agbogho. or Adolescent female masks, Agbogho Mmanwu (or mmuo) . During the performance the males embody the ideals of youthful feminine beauty which includes light complexions, pointed breasts, slim waist, fine facial features, and her hair will be elaborately and delicately dressed in the preferred crested style...The maiden spirit masquerade reempahsises and exaggerates the ‘feminine ideal’. The tight fitting brilliantly coloured and patterned appliqué costume derive from uli and other painted body designs. Flamboyant, delicate open work hairstyles on maiden masks enlarge expressively on real hairdos, facial features are finer and smaller in life, and the face is, of course, whiter, an allusion to the spiritual beauty and moral purity. (Aniakor and Cole, 1986, pp.1201-121.)

Bibliographical Reference: Cole, H. & C. Aniakor, 1984. Igbo Arts: Community and Cosmos (Museum of Cultural History, University of California)Jones, G.I., 1984. The Art of Eastern Nigeria (Cambridge University Press)

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Alicia Fentiman 13/11/2007]