Face Mask (Agboho mmuo)
Face Mask (Agboho mmuo)
Attribution: Museum-publishedProvenance: Museum accession
Attribution follows a published museum catalogue or peer-reviewed scholarship. Object is held in a public collection under a published accession number.
This small face mask would have been complemented by a separate, elaborate superstructure covered with cotton cloth. Though always worn by a man, the image glorifies youthful female beauty. Derived from chalky clay, the white coloration of the face refers to ancestral spirits whose powers the mask evokes. The masks dance in festivals that generally celebrate the dead but also appear at funerals to escort the deceased to the land of the ancestors.
Catalogued by Cleveland Museum of Art as “Face Mask (Agboho mmuo)”, dated possibly early 1900s. Harvested from the museum’s open-access record; every field below is copied from that record and none of it has been inferred.
Record
| People / culture | Igbo |
|---|---|
| Country | Nigeria |
| Common name | Face Mask (Agboho mmuo) |
| Form category | Face mask |
| Subject depicted | Ancestor or named individual |
| Materials | Wood, pigment, plant fiber, and cotton |
| Dimensions | Overall: 16.9 x 11 x 6 cm (6 5/8 x 4 5/16 x 2 3/8 in.) |
Provenance
Kim Sherwin (?–2016)
by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art (2016–)
| Collection | Cleveland Museum of Art |
|---|---|
| Accession number | 2016.10 |
Source
Cleveland Museum of Art, Face Mask (Agboho mmuo), accession 2016.10. https://clevelandart.org/art/2016.10
https://clevelandart.org/art/2016.10
This record is a catalogue entry, not an appraisal, valuation or legal determination. Nothing here should be read as evidence that an object was lawfully acquired or exported.