Idoma - Nigeria

The mask has an oval perimeter that surrounds a fase shaped like a heart truncated by a straight line that coincides with the lower lip. The surrounding perimeter has a textura like light brownterracotta and the face is black. On the surrounding perimeter, at a height below the eyes, there are small, simplified ears, and at the height of the lower lip line, there are scarifications in the form of concentric circles, all in black. On the face, the mouth, wide and On the face, the mouth, wide and full, is closed, the nose with wide nostrils, the eyes with low eyelids formed by curved horizontal lines in relief, decreasing in length towards pronounced eye sockets, above each of which there are scarifications, Abaji, in an arc, following the upper shape of the heart. In a jagged, straight, vertical line along the entire length of the nose, forehead, and surrounding area, up to the beginning of the hairstyle, there is a scarification. The hairstyle formed by a small serrated black surface located above the surrounding area is topped by a kind of central crest called Agbada, and on the sides of the hairstyle there are two small braids in a vertical line sloping outwards and
pointed in shape. The mask as a whole gives the impresión of placidity, introspection, and solemnity. It is a festive mask used both for entertainment and for ritual purposes. This type of mask may have originated in the Ogoja and Cross River regions, where these masks are common both in the form of helmets and crests.

Provenance: Private collection
Argiles collection, Barcelona