African Igbo Wood Mask - Okoroshi Ojo 

• 1950 
• Igbo 
• Masker 
• Nigeria 

7691497

Miscellaneous

African Igbo Wood Mask - Okoroshi Ojo

1950

Western Africa, Nigeria, Igbo peoples, ca. mid 20th century CE. A wooden mask in the Okoroshi Ojo style, hand-carved and narrow to be worn atop the head rather than over the face, with the rest of the body covered beneath it to hide the identity of the wearer. The mask's face is long and painted dark-brown, and semicircular ears, almond-shaped eyes, an enormous nose, and an ovoid mouth with several protruding teeth detailing the face. Several notched bars accentuate the eyes and forehead, and a trio of oxidized nails stick out from the top of the mask. Okoroshi Oma masks are typically white-faced masks meant to represent women water spirits, and Okoroshi Ojo, like this example, are meant to represent the evil and dark clouds that form during the rainy season; they also represent men, chaos, and mysterious natural occurrences.