Additional information
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Mfon Ekpo Ibibio Mask
This Ibibio mask represents Mfon ekpo, the idea of the idealized female. The mask would have been worn by an initiated male performer expressing, through dance, concepts of the idealized female beauty and behavior. This performer would dance alongside a masculine character, Idiok ekpo, represented by a black mask with typically distorted or menacing facial features. In unison, the two represent the dual nature of humanity. The mask features minor insect damage and erosion to surface. This Ibibio mask was found in a box among others wrapped in newspaper dated June 16, 1974. Other items in these boxes were similarly from southern Nigeria, areas caught up in the Biafran Civil War, 1967 – 1970. Ex collection Sidney and Gae Berman. This mask is carved by the same hand as this Mfon ekpo Ibibio.
11”
