IDNO

LS.82699.GIJ

Description

Obugulu Mau (Ghost) masquerade.
A masquerader, Nwaogho Ehi, (Heifer) , wearing a helmet mask (painted white and with v-shaped markings above and below the eyes)dressed in a brightly coloured harlequin-like/applique costume. Cloth cloak tied around the neck, over ?woven or ?net cloth which is attached to the mask, wrappers around the waist and ankle-rattles, made of ?seeds. Mud and thatch houses and trees and vegetation in the background.

Physical Condition: The negative is scratched.

Place

W Africa; Nigeria; Southeastern Nigeria

Cultural Affliation

Igbo [historically Ibo]; Isuochi

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

Lantern Slide Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

LS.82686.GIJ to LS.82705.GIJ were found inside box formerly numbered 45, now re-numbered C412/.These slides may have been produced from the prints in the collection. The list describing the lantern slides found inside box C412/ has been archived with the rest of the Jones collection, which is stored in Bay N/ Shelf 3/ Box 1. On paper found inside box C412/ the description relating to slide 13 mentions:
"Beautiful girl in Mau play" [manuscript in ink]

Context: The number and variety of masks and masquerades [in the Nri/Awka Igbo area of Ontisha province] was considerable: they were referred to generically as Mau (Ghost) and one of the more recent was Obugulu Mau, in wihc the characters were a grandmother, a mother, and a number of daughter masks attired in bright harliquin-like tights and wearing helmet masks or masks with a head-dress made up of a superstructure of wire and cane covered in brightly coloured wools or streamers to which cloth or wooden figures were attached." (Jones,1984: 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 17/10/2007]