Mask (agbogho mmwo)

Masks such as this are worn by men to represent the Igbo ideal of female beauty: small, balanced features, elaborate hairstyles, and delicate tattoos. This mask, with its crested superstructure and carved openwork forms rising above a coiffure of tight curls, illustrates the elaborate hairstyles worn by girls when emerging from seclusion in preparation for marriage. These “maiden spirit” masks (agbogho mmwo), are worn at festivals that celebrate the incarnate dead, those collective ancestors who assure prosperity and protection for the living community. This function explains the white painted surface of the mask (here quite faded), a color associated with death. During the ceremony, the ancestors re-appear as beautiful maidens from the spirit world, wearing colorful, tight-fitting fiber costumes, and entertaining the crowd with exaggerated versions of women’s dances.