Widekum Agwe Chaka Mask

Skin-covered masks — wooden carvings covered with animal or human skin — were fashionable over a broad region, from as far east as the Ejagham territory of Cameroon to as far west as the Ibibio and Igbo territories of Nigeria. The Widekum of Cameroon, on the eastern side of the Cross River, are its easternmost adherents. Large, domed-face helmet masks called agwe chaka masks are performed by a number of Widekum societies serving hunters and warriors. The society most closely associated with agwe masks is the Nchibe society, which oversees funerary rites. It is here that agwe masks are performed. According to Kathryn Cua and Adenike Cosgrove, “masqueraders hold a machete when performing and wear a loosely fitted embroidered gown, under which is placed a raffia bag stuffed with cloth.” This mask was formerly in a collection on the West Coast of the U.S. It shows good age and use, though the approximate time frame of its importation into the United States is unknown. This is a powerful and unusual mask of imposing scale.

17.5″

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