IDNO

P.71736.GIJ

Description

An Mmaji mask. An oval shaped wooden mask consisting of the “standard” features of these types of mask. Projecting horizontally outward from its centre line are three cylindrical pegs, with flat ends, that lie in the same vertical plane and in line with a knife-like protrusion. The “knife” curves back and tapers to a point and is painted in triangular patterns. The mask consists of two slit eyes rimmed in black with light colour dots above and beneath at the same level of the eyes is a small pointed projection; the mask is painted in white and dark colours with white squares to the sides. The mask is encircled in raffia webbing.

Place

W Africa; Nigeria; South Eastern Nigeria; Cross River; Amaseri

Cultural Affliation

Igbo [historically Ibo]; Ada

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.71728.GIJ to P.71831.GIJ were kept in box 14, now numbered C300/.
P.71728.GIJ to P.71748.GIJ were found wrapped in paper, now numbered C300/1/.

Publication: Same image published on John McCall’s G.I. Jones website with the following information: [Source: www.siu.edu/~anthro/mccall/jones/, AF ]
1. Index to various Igbo groups: Ngusu Ada, Isu Ikwu Ato, Alayi, Item
2. Ngusu Ada Igbo
3. Ngusu Ada mask (1st image).

Context: Ottenberg provides a detailed description about the Afikpo mask known as MMa Ji . It is the best known and most characteristic Ibo form. Mmaji, meaning “knife-yam”, refers to the top of the piece, which has the appearance of a knife or machete. Afikpo also call it mma ubi, ‘knife-farm’. The general features of the mask is that the face is a convex, rounded oval. Projecting horizontally outward from its centre line are three or four cylindrical pegs, with flat ends, that lie in the same vertical plane and in line with the “knife”. The “knife” curves back and tapers to a point somewhere above the raffia backing region. The mask has no mouth, ears, forehead or head. The eyes are oval, often rimmed in black, and usually meet at the third peg from the bottom a four-pegged mask and at the middle one on a three pegged form. The mask is multicoloured, as a rule, rather than black and white. The face covering is abstract, not only in form but in design. Neighbouring pegs are often different colors - red, orange, and white, although not usually black- and may have dots. The mask is a common form at Afikpo. It is worn at the okumpa play by older boys who wear the mba costume, or those taking part in skits. At the nnjeni parade it is worn by a range of ages, from small boys to adult men, who are costumed as schoolboys, school teachers, missionaries, Muslims, and westernized Africans. The mask is worn by the main dancing group at the Okonkwo play, where a costume similar to the mba is seen. It is also employed in the Ikwum form of secret society initiation. (Ottenberg, 1975, pp. 35-36.)

Context: Jones describes this type of mask as mba or ikwum. The most common abstract masks was a white, red, and black arrangement of an oval face with the features reduced to a vertical row of three projecting cylinders surmounted by a knifelike crest and suggestive prow of a Venetian gondola (Jones, 1984, p. 211). In his article Ifogu Nkporo he describes how this type of mask and the character who played it. “Then came the two main dancers, a pair of strange creatures with scarlet jerseys, black velvet hats with a white ribbon round them, and terrifying masks with human eyes, a sword coming out of the forehead and three conical projections beneath it, the whole suggesting vaguely the prow of a Melanesian war canoe. Each carried an egg in one hand and a cross between a vanity bag and a rattle in the other.“ (Jones, 1939, pp.119-121.)

Context: The masks, sculpture, and culture of this area are described in detail by Ottenberg. He writes that, “ the Afikpo belong to an Igbo subgroup called Ada or Edda (Forde and Jones 1950, pp.51-56), which includes the Okpoha, Edda, Amaseri, and Unwana village-groups, all of which border on the Afikpo, Nkporo and Akaeze, both short distances away. The Ada have many common features in their history and culture. They have past associations with the famous slave-trading Igbo of Aro Chuku, some forty miles to the south, and their population includes other immigrant groups from various Igbo areas, as well as residue of ancient non-Igbo peoples having Cross-River cultures (the earliest in the Ada area). The Ada are known for the prevalence of double unilineal descent, for well developed age grade organizations, for their military and head-taking activities in the past, and for their characteristic forms of art and rituals. These features differentiate them from other Igbo and from the Cross River groups” (Ottenberg, 1975, p.3) In relation to masquerades, he writes that, “Each village also has a secret society, although it is not really very secret, for it lacks an exclusive character. All males are expected to join it by the time that they are adults, and many become members as children. It thus excludes females and uninitiatied boys. The secrecy involves much of the initiation rites, certain titles taken within it, and some other events. The masquerades, which form one of its principal activities, are generally held in public, although there are secrets associated with them.

Bibliographical Reference:
Forde and Jones. 1950. “The Ibo and Ibibio Speaking Peoples of South-Eastern Nigeria”. International African Institute, Ethnographic Survey of Africa, Western Africa, Part III) (London)
Jones, G.I. 1939. “On the Identity of Two Masks from S.R. Nigeria in the British Museum”, Man, Vol. 39, pp. 33-34.
Jones, G.I. 1955 “A Memoir of Early Field Photography”, African Arts, XVIII, no. 4, pp. 64-67.
Jones, G.I., 1984. The Art of Eastern Nigeria (Cambridge University Press)
Ottenberg, S. 1975. Masked Rituals of Afikpo. (University of Washington Press)

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Alicia Fentiman 3/12/2007]