ClassificationsAfrican Art

Mask (Elu)

Place CreatedNigeria, Africa

CultureOgoni

Date20th Century

MediumWood, pigment, reeds

Credit LineEx coll. William S. Arnett

Dimensions7 7/16 x 5 1/8 x 4 3/4 in. (18.9 x 13 x 12 cm)

Object number1994.004.658

Label TextSmall delicately carved face masks with pert noses and childlike facial features representing male and female spirits (elu) appear in village masquerades among Ogoni peoples living between the Niger Delta and Cross Rivers of southern Nigeria. Many of these face masks are cut across the mouth allowing the wearer to articulate the jaw as the spirit speaks through him. The open mouth reveals narrow teeth, usually made of cane.
Exhibition HistoryThree Rivers of Nigeria: Art of the Lower Niger, Cross, and Benue from the Collection of William and Robert Arnett, The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, 1978
MCCM Permanent Collection Installation, July 19, 2003 - March 13, 2007
Masquerade: Scripturalizing Modernities Through Black Flesh, A Pitts Theology Library Digital Exhibition, Emory University, 2021 (virtual exhibition)
Published ReferencesMarcilene K. Wittmer and William Arnett, Three Rivers of Nigeria: Art of the Lower Niger, Cross, and Benue (Atlanta: The High Museum of Art, 1978), 45, number 110.

ProvenanceEx coll. William S. Arnett (1939-2020), Atlanta, Georgia, from at least 1978.

Status

Not on view

Collections