IDNO

P.73768.GIJ

Description

Nwamuo (dance trophy). A two tiered dance trophy on a circular base. A close up view of the top tier of three male figures, who are standing and with legs apart, and bodies with decorative incisions and scarfication markings. In the background is a mud wall.

Place

W Africa; Nigeria; Southeast Nigeria; Ogume

Cultural Affliation

Igbo [historically Ibo]; S.Ika

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.73718.GIJ to P.73813.GIJ were kept in box 16, now numbered C334/.

Context: In 1937 Jones visited Ogume and described the various sculpture or Nwammuo in this photograph; he also met the carver who carved this piece. He recalls that, “A Nwammuo was trophy used in a dance or play of the same name. It consisted of groups of little human figures arranged in tires one above the other. The one I photographed was two-tiered, with four figures in each tier, and surmounted by two birds, but Ufere (the carver) was said to have carved Nwammuo with up to four tiers and sixteen figures. I gathered that the principal dancer would carry the trophy on his head and a paddle in his right hand, and that the others (who could be both men and women) would dance in a circle around him.” (Jones, 1989, p. 65).

Context: Jones writes about the rare Nwamno figure. “The Western Ibo of the Asaba division also had a trophy dance in which people paraded and danced around a cult object, which was either carried aloft or held erect on the ground. This consisted of a cylindrical construction of carved wooden figures arranged in tiers one above the other; sometimes this was carved out of a single block of wood, in other cases the main structure was one piece and the rest of the figures were attached to it. The construction and the size was very similar to the type of Ikenga illustrated by Fagg” (Jones, 1984, p.149).

Bibliographical Reference: Jones, G.I., 1984. The Art of Eastern Nigeria (Cambridge University Press)
Jones, G.I. 1989. “A Visit to Ogume in 1937” African Arts, XXII:3, pp.64-67.

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