IDNO

P.71779.GIJ

Description

Two Lughulu face masks; one female and beautiful, the other male and comic. On the left is the comic male mask painted white and carved of wood. The forehead is high and rounded, the eyes are open slits, the nose protruding and an open mouth. The cheeks are swollen and puffy. Attached to the side of the mask is a piece of raffia. The mask on the right is the beautiful female face mask. It is long and elegant. The face consists of two holes a long nose, small open mouth, pointed chin and protruding elliptical shaped ears and a large coiffure or headdress which is designed with a line in the centre and horizontal incisions on either side; it culminates in two projections at the top.

Place

W Africa; Nigeria; South Eastern Nigeria; Cross River; Northern Bende division

Cultural Affliation

Item

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.71750.GIJ to P.71787.GIJ were found wrapped in paper, now numbered C300/2/.

Context: ...the Item and Alayi tribes had their own particular masquerades called Lughulu. The characters wore masks, not heads, and these were of two kinds: beautiful, which were female, sometimes white-faced, sometimes stained a reddish brown colour with cam wood: and ugly, which were either white-faced or stained black, and were considered comic rather than fierce. These masks were sometimes full-sized but often, like some Ogoni masks, were small and designed to cover only the upper portion of the actor’s face, leaving his mouth and jaw exposed (Jones, 1984, p.206)

Context: Cole and Aniakor write, “In Item and Ugweke, for example, a series of fine masks are danced in a ‘play’ called Lughulu that includes the familiar opposition of pretty females and ugly males but almost nothing is known about the cult.” (Cole and Aniakor, 1989, p. 166).

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

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Alicia Fentiman 21/11/2007]