IDNO

T.170130.GIJ

Description

A long modern ngwomo wall with open ground in front. The wall extends across the ground with several pillars and a central arch, and gently curves in an out. The wall is decorated with paintings including:
A figure sitting on a horse with his hand stretching out. Around the “scene” are two birds and a geometric border on the bottom.
Two Ekpe (Egbo) figures in their masquerade costumes bending at the waist and with two curved designs on the top of their heads and a tail.
A two tiered panels: he bottom panel shows three school girls; the upper panel shows a leopard, with a long tail and collar. [PB 29/09/2023]

Place

W Africa; Nigeria; South Eastern Nigeria; Cross River Area; Okwu village

Cultural Affliation

Igbo [historically Ibo]

Named Person

Photographer

Jones, Gwilliam Iwan (known as G.I.)

Collector / Expedition

Date

circa 1930 - 1939; October 1984

Collection Name

Jones Collection

Source

Format

Colour Transparency

Primary Documentation

Other Information

T.169937.GIJ - T.170148.GIJ were located together in a Agfa transparency box, now numbered C756/.

Bibliographical Reference: In Jones, G.I. 1984. The Art of Eastern Nigeria. (Cambridge: CUP), pp.106-7, Jones describes this wall in detail: "This village was already distinguished from other villages in the tribe by having a solid mud wall which they called Mbaja and which was regarded as a kind of public monument. The old Mbaja had long since fallen down and the people decided to replace it with a permanent one which would display even bigger and better frescoes than those of the Umuajatta Ekpe lodge. They raised a fund to which all members of the village contributed, they bought the materials and hired a mason and carpenters, who built a wall with a corrugated iron roof over it framing two sides of their market and public meeting-place. It was about ninety yards long, broken in the middle by a gateway giving on to the main road outside. The construction was of cement blocks plastered with cement on the outside, the roof was extended forward over this side to protect and form a kind of narrow gallery. They hired the same artist who had painted the Umuajatta Ekpe lodge to decorate the inside wall with Ngwomo-type frescoes but, in response to the demands of the Christians who had contributed to the fund, the bawdy topics which had enlivened the Umuajatta lodge were omitted." [PB 29/03/2023]