Mba Style Afikpo Igbo Mask

Herbert Cole and Chike Aniakor write in Igbo Arts: Community and Cosmos that the Afikpo village group are an Edda people living close to the Cross River. The carved masks of the Afikpo Igbo are typically “fairly small and narrow” and “vertically oriented,” with the Mba mask style being particularly vertical considering its top extension. Simon Ottenberger in Masked Rituals of Afikpo describes the design of the flat rectangular board that sits atop the face of an Mba mask, stating that the “curved triangular design” is common, as well as “straight triangles, squares, dash marks, and quatrefoil designs.” Mba masks similar to this one can be found on page 170 of Igbo Arts and pages 28-30 of Masked Rituals of Afikpo.

15″

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