IDNO

P.71743.GIJ

Description

A dark wooden face mask consisting of two slit eyes encircled in white (gypsum), small nose, open mouth with incised teeth paitned white and white scarification or itchi markings on the side of face, elliptical shaped ears with holes, markings on the forehead with white drawing, two rounded projections (horns?) on the top.

Place

W Africa; Nigeria; South Eastern Nigeria; Cross River; ?Northern Bende division; Ngusu Ada

Cultural Affliation

Igbo [historically Ibo]; Afikpo; 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 (2nd image).

Publication: Similar image published in Jones, 1939, p.34 Plate 4, and labelled Akpagachi.

Context: Jones identifies this type of mask as Akpagachi and describes that this mask is worn in a play called Lugulu.. The plays connected with these masks are only played on the native orie day (once every four or eight days) and only during the months of the dry season, November to March. They can only be worn by men who have completed their initiation ceremonies and have attained mbe grade. All the masks illustrated, except the mba, which comes from Nkporo, are from Ngusu Ada, and were made by Ugwu Ocha of Elugu Ngusu, a man of middle age. The mba and ikwum ocha types of mask are not found in any other part of S.E. Nigeria. (Jones, 1939, p.33). The dyes used in these mask are black (leaf dye), white from gypsum (native chalk), the yellow from a certain wood and the red from cam-wood.

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 unitiatied 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.

Context: Afikpo Art and masks are well documented by Ottenberg. He notes that the Afikpo use the same word ihu for mask and for face. Wooden masks are the major sculptural form of the Afikpo. “Putting on a mask turns a person into a sprit or mma. Ottenberg has identified twelve types of wooden mask types at Afikpo. “Each one of the mask has forms of the adult society has its own stylistic features easily recognizable by Afikpo and one or more names by which it is referred to. Many of the masks are associated with particular forms of behavior. A mask is sometimes found with a certain type of costume; sometimes the names of the mask and costume are the same.”(Ottenberg, 1975, p.17)

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 28/11/2007]