IDNO

P.71994.GIJ

Description

Two unfinished heads for the Ikem masquerade. The head on the left is carved with realistic and naturalistic features. The eyebrows are arched, slit eyes, nose, open-rounded mouth with teeth, and one rounded “target” mark on the side of the temple. The hairline is demarcated and there are small holes are on the top of the head and a thick neck. The head on the right is damaged and depicts nautralisitc features of arched brows, slit yes, nose, open mouth, ears and thick neck. In the background are rocks.

Place

W Africa; Nigeria; Southeast Nigeria; Cross River

Cultural Affliation

Igbo [historically Ibo]; Ozu 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.71972.GIJ to P.72000.GIJ and P.72249.GIJ to P.72371.GIJ were kept in box 8, now numbered C297/. ]

Related Image: This print or negative appears to be a unique image within the MAA Photograph Collections. [JD 24/1/2016

Context: The Ikem masquerade consisted of masquerades with skin covered heads, the older ones depicting a character, said to be male, called Ajonku, the more recent depicting a female character with a long neck and exaggerated horns called Ikem an and a fierce male one with a Janus shoulder mask (Jones, 1989, p.52.)

Context: Jones writes that we can distinguish a Cross River style which consisted of a very limited number of forms, mainly heads with human features which sought to be as realistic as possible, the skin being added to the carving, according to some informants, in order to achieve a greater realism. Talbot maintained that the skin was human but Campbell’s researches did not confirm this. The classic forms considered the finest by Europeans and Nigerians alike were a female head with a long neck and hair bound up into elaborate ‘horns’ and a large Janus-type shoulder mask. The female mask was said to be beautiful and the shoulder mask was usually represented as fierce and masculine; the tallness and slenderness of the one and the breadth and solidity of the other were exaggerated in the sculpture. These types were diffused as far east as the Bangwa and as far west as the Anang. There were, however, plenty of other heads representing male or female characters with or without necks and ranging from the naturalistic to the very crude, depending on the capabilities of the carver and the idiosyncrasies of local taste. (Jones, 1984, p.191-192).

Bibliographical Reference: Jones, G.I., 1984. The Art of Eastern Nigeria (Cambridge University Press), and Jones, G.I. 1989. Ibo Art (Shire)

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Alicia Fentiman 14/12/2007