Details

Title

Mask

Artist/Maker

Ibibio Artist, Ekpo Society, Nigeria

Date

Twentieth century

Medium

Paint on wood

Dimensions

13 1/2 x 8 1/4 x 6 3/4 inches

Credit

Gift of T. Marshall Hahn

Accession #

1995.190

Location

Currently not on view

In Ibibio communities of Nigeria, the Ekpo Society is an influential men’s association charged with initiation and ancestral veneration. Masked Ekpo dancers also direct funerals, assuring respect for the deceased. The society’s influence was maintained even during the colonial era, as British officials deferred to its power and Ekpo ceremonies continued. Ekpo masks can be serene and beautiful or fierce and menacing. Ibibio carvers are well respected throughout the Niger Delta for their skilled workmanship. Five faces peer from the upper register of this beaked mask, covered above and below with white paint.