IDNO

P.73754.GIJ

Description

A documentation photograph of a wooden Kalabari head mask. The top of the head is squarish with a raised forehead, defined by a horizontal border with zig-zag markings. The face of the maks is damaged but a long linear line indicating the nose is present, the chin of the mask tapers into a point.

Place

W Africa; Europe British Isles; Nigeria; United Kingdom; England; London; southern Nigeria; near Onitsha; Niger River; ?Asaba

Cultural Affliation

Ijo; Kalabari

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.73718.GIJ to P.73813.GIJ were kept in box 16, now numbered C334/.
P.73722.GIJ to P.73754.GIJ were found wrapped in paper, now numbered C334/1/.

Context: Jones discusses the Delta major style and notes that, “The Delta style was much more restricted in sculptural forms and in the conventions which governed their representations. The stylisation was much greater and attempts at realism in the treatment, for example, of the human face were much more rarer. We can distinguish two very distinct local styles, Central Ijo and Eastern or Kalabari Ijo...The Central Ijo style was produced by communities, mainly Ijo, to the west and north-west of the Nun River; the Kalabari style by the four tribal states of Nembe (Brass), Kalabari (New Calabar), Bonny and Okrika and by other Ijo communities living east of the Nun River.

The Delta style lacked any face masks: the carvings in the masquerades were worn on the heads of the characters and were of three types: (1) head masks carried horizontally on the actor’s head and facing upwards; (2) heads which were vertical constructions with one, two or more faces resting on a single neck which, if it was large enough, was hollowed slightly at the base to fit on to the actor’s head or if too small for this was attached to a basketwork frame for the same purpose; (3) complete figures usually of fishes or animals carried horizontally on the actor’s head and either resting directly on it or being attached to a platform or basketwork frame. The head masks and heads were highly stylised, the fish carvings were treated more naturalistically.

The characteristics of the Delta style are most clearly shown in the treatment given to the human face. This was broken down into its salient features, forehead, eyes, nose, mouth and teeth, and these were isolated into separate geometric forms rising up of an expressionless voice. Ears were ignored and omitted, or if shown were placed laterally and not indicated on the front of the face. In some cases they were wooden or leather discs pegged or nailed on to the side of the carving. The face was broken down into two planes, a high one representing the line of the brows which were arched in the central Ijo head masks, straight in the case of the Kalabari ones. From this lower plane two oval or circular cylinders projected upward to represent the eyes and between them the nose, which was attached to the higher plane of the forehead. Below the nose was a square rectangular box with a serrated top repenting the mouth and teeth as shown in this photograph. (Jones, 1§984, pp.159-161)

Context: Jones describes the Kalabari style. “The characteristic carvings of the Kalabari local style was the head mask. The form differed considerably from that of the Central Ijo. The mask was smaller, more compact and reduced to a single face. The overall shape was that of a narrow shiled except in masks like Utobo, Emele. and Okuku, in which animal forms were introduced. The Kalabari said that the ordinary mask was canoe-shaped, but this referred to lower part of the face, which ended in a pointed chin like the stem of a canoe. The other end was cut off square and was either left rough and plain for the attachment of decorative hangings or was finsiehd in a crest or repsentation of some kind of headgear. The breadth of this upper part of the face was often expressed by series of transverse bars or ridges, the lowest of which formed the brows, while the length of the lower part was emphasised by a long straight bar of a nose which ended in two half moons for nostrils. The mouth itself almost rested on the chin and was oval in shape, with the lips forming an outer and and around an inner oval made upf of two rows of teeth. The treatment of the eyes was again different from the Central Ijo or indeed from any other Eastern Nigerian masks. It indicated both the outer and inner parts of the eye, which appeared as two raised ovals or cirlces one inside the other” (Jones, 1984, pp.164-165).

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

Horton, R. 1965 Kalabari Sculpture (Dept of Aniquities Lagos)

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Alicia Fentiman 5/2/2008]