IDNO

P.71789.GIJ

Description

A man modelling a mask. The wooden mask is oval shaped with two curved designs emanating from the top inwards to the centre. The face of the mask is oval shaped an there are defined areas for the hairline, two rounded markings on the forehead, slit eyes with overhanging eyebrows, two keloid markings on either side of the eyes, a long nose, open mouth with teeth. The mask has been smeared in a chalk/white paint which defines some of the facial features and the two curved/curled projections.
The mask is attached to the head with twine. The man is wearing a white shirt and in the background are wooden poles and a thatched roof hut.

Place

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

Cultural Affliation

Igbo [historically Ibo]; Alayi

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.71789.GIJ to P.71815.GIJ were found wrapped in paper, now numbered C300/3/.

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. Alayi Igbo (Isu-Ikem)
3. Mask Ugwu Eke village (4th image).

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 9/4/2008]