ClassificationsAfrican Art

Mask Headdress

Place CreatedNigeria, Africa

CultureOgoni

Date20th Century

MediumWood, fiber, pigment

Credit LineEx coll. William S. Arnett

Dimensions20 1/16 x 6 11/16 in. (51 x 17 cm)

Object number1994.004.664

Label TextDelicately carved masks, with pert noses and child-like 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. They are danced by members of the young men's age grade society. This mask, featuring a seated female figure, is worn atop the masker's head. The figure wears an elaborate hairstyle that mimics the curving horns of the antelope, an animal depicted in other Ogoni masks. The figure may represent an ancestor (ka-elu). With her right hand, the hand from which sacrifices are offered, this ka-elu holds a cup. The other hand holds an umbrella, a popular Ogoni motif. The prestigious modern elements of chair, cup, and umbrella are bestowed upon spirits in the hopes that they will reciprocate by blessing a community with good fortune.
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
Art of Nigeria from the William S. Arnett Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, October 15, 1994 - January 2, 1995
MCCM Permanent Collection Installation, Rotation 1, December 15, 1995 - February 1997
MCCM Permanent Collection Installation, Rotation 2, February 1997 - July 1998
MCCM Permanent Collection Installation, July 19, 2003 - March 13, 2007
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), 51, number 124.
Michael C. Carlos Museum Handbook (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 1996), 104.
MCCM Newsletter, September - November 2003.

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

Status

Not on view

Collections