The mask depicts a ‘beautiful girl’, that comes to man from the afterlife. These masks are called ‘Agbogho Mmwo’ and are danced with by young men in tight, colourful costumes during harvest festivals and at ceremonies in honour of ancestors, women and the earth gods.
The present ‘Mmwo mask’ is especially beautiful, old and carefully crafted. It has a white-coloured face (kaolin) that indicates that this mask character has come from the afterlife, the realm of the dead. It has originally black-dyed decorative scarification marks on the forehead and on both sides of the face, along with black-dyed eyebrows, eyes, ears and a small, open mouth with two rows of teeth carved out from the same piece, all above a pointed chin. The base colour of the elaborate hairstyle is black with red, blue and white highlights. It consists of a tall, carved openwork, arched middle crest, with a row of colourful studs along its outer edge. At the centre of the crest sits a black bird (turned upside down). On both sides of the hairstyle sit two more black birds (with red eyes) on ‘stands’ carved out from the same piece. Beneath them on the right and left, there are two small mask faces coloured in white (rare). On the front the black hairstyle has two towering rods, to be used when wearing the mask. The lower edge of the hairstyle is finished with lines and concentric circles in relief. Overall this is a very beautiful ‘Mmwo mask’ with an old crack along the back and some colour abrasion due to age on the white kaolin. The excellent usage patina on the outside and especially on the inside of the ‘helmet’, as well as the broken fastening eyelets from protracted use of the dance costume, underline the rare age of this mask. Height: 47 cm; width: c. 27 cm. First third of the 20th century. (ME)

Provenance:
Austrian private collection.

Lit.:
'Igbo' by H. M. Cole, ill. 30, 31, 32, 33; 'Igbo Arts. Community and Cosmos' by H. M. Cole & Ch. C. Aniakor, ill. 224.