• Mumuye, Nigeria

• Early 20th Century

• Wood, pigment

• 21 x 7.5 x 7.5 in. / 53 x 19 x 19 cm

• Ex. James Willis Tribal Art

In earlier times, masked ceremonies closed the Mumuye initiation period. Each age class formed a defensive unit for the village that also worked the land and hunted. The first manifestation of this small group's spirit of solidarity was the pooling of resources to have a mask produced to symbolize their collective identity. These masks, which represented abstract animals (buffalo, monkey, elephant, leopard, and so on), were called va or vabo, and initiates called them "Sons of Va." A particularly well-off age class might even finance a second mask, this time a female called "grandmother." The masks would be danced at the time of sowing, harvesting, funerals, or other important events. Priests, whose duties were hereditary, kept the masks in sanctuaries when they weren't being used (Kerchache, Art of Africa, 1993).

Mounted on a custom base that allows the angle of presentation to be easily changed.

Domestic shipping included. International shipping quoted separately.

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