• Alternate view of object
  • Alternate view of object
  • Alternate view of object
  • Alternate view of object
Sep 9, 2009
Sep 9, 2009
Sep 9, 2009
Sep 9, 2009

Mask

Mask

c. 1920s

Guinea Coast, Nigeria, Ibibio, 20th century

Wood, pigment, plant fiber, and metal

Overall: 49.5 cm (19 1/2 in.)

Gift of Katherine C. White 1975.160

Location

not on view

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Description

Among the Ibibio, this Ekpo mask with a serene face depicts a beautiful, beneficent soul. This one probably honored a young Ibibio maiden who graduated from the "fattening house," an initiation school where she was fed rich foods to strengthen and beautify her. The bead suspended around the neck of the surmounting head is an insignia of graduation. The double-braided coiffure may have been inspired by Victorian fashions observed by the sculptor in magazines or worn by English missionary women.

See also
Collection: 
African Art
Department: 
African Art
Type of artwork: 
Mask
Medium: 
Wood, pigment, plant fiber, and metal
Credit line: 
Gift of Katherine C. White

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