IDNO

P.171760.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. [Description from record P.170971.GIJ, PB 14/11/2024]

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.171730.GIJ - P.171808.GIJ were located together in an 'University of Camridge' envelope, now numbered C841/.

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).

Bibliographical Reference: H.M. Cole describes Mbari houses and sculptures in Cole H.M., 1982. Mbari: Art and Life among the Owerri Igbo, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press).