IDNO

P.74011.GIJ

Description

Close up view of a man carver making a lidded bowl. He is seated and is holding a metal tool in one hand and an adze in the other. The bowl is hollowed out and rounded and the lid is also rounded.

Place

W Africa; Nigeria; South Eastern Nigeria; near Awka; Amobia village

Cultural Affliation

Igbo [historically Ibo]; Nri Awka

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.74011.GIJ to P.74015.GIJ came from the envelope now numbered C343/.

Context: In relation to the style of carving in the Nri Awka area, Jones writes, “ The area that has produced most of the carvings in the Lower Niger style was the Nri/Awka Ibo area of the Onitsha province. Not only masks an figures, but decorative carvings of all sorts were produced here and in considerable quantity: for example, stools, doors, panels, lidded boxes, hand mirrors, bowls and other utensils, sometimes plain but more usually ornamented in an angular geometric style. The number and variety of masks and masquerades was considerable; they were referred to generically as Mau (Ghost) (Jones, 1984, p.142-143).

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

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Alicia Fentiman 9/4/2008]