IDNO

P.170770.GIJ

Description

A tableau of clay sculptures in an Mbari house, representing Mammywater and her daughter. She is sitting on a model of a folding chair with legs crossed and arms raised. She has a painted headdress edged with cowrie shells, and face edged with painted hair braids. A coiled snaked is modelled on her neck and she holds a snake in each hand. The child is sitting on a stool, wearing a conical hat. To the right of the image is a sculpture of an attendant. To the left in the shadows a person is standing holding one of the posts of the house. [PB 14/03/2024]

Place

W Africa; Nigeria; Southeast Nigeria; Owerri North; Imo; Ulakwo town

Cultural Affliation

Igbo [historically Ibo]; Oratta Ibo

Named Person

Photographer

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

Collector / Expedition

Date

1936

Collection Name

Jones Collection

Source

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.170715.GIJ - P.170801.GIJ were located in an Ilford paper box, now numbered C762/.

P.170755.GIJ - P.170771.GIJ were located in a paper folder, now numbered C762/4, and are a sequence of images of the same Mbari house.

Publication: Image published in Jones, G.I., 1984. The Art of Eastern Nigeria, (Cambridge: CUP), fig. 26. p. 91, and captioned "Mammywater and daughter: note the dwarf standing in background. Mbari house, Ulakwo village. Oratta Ibo." [PB 15/03/2024]

Bibliographical Reference: G.I. Jones describes Mbari sculptures on pp. 82-92 and Mbari house architecture on p. 104 in Jones G.I., 1984. The Art of Eastern Nigeria. (Cambridge: CUP). [PB 05/03/2024]