Skip Navigation

Maiden Spirit Mask (Agbogho Mmuo)

Arts of Africa

CULTURE Nupe
MEDIUM Wood, cloth, fiber
  • Place Made: Nitsha, Nigeria
  • DATES 19th century
    DIMENSIONS 16 1/2 x 7 1/4 x 11 in. (41.9 x 18.4 x 27.9 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Arts of Africa
    ACCESSION NUMBER 22.1592
    CREDIT LINE Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Carved wooden face mask , painted. Elaborate headdress with geometric decoration of spirals, parallel lines and circular discs in relief as well as incised lines. Two "combs" are represented, standing up on each side of the headress. The face is long and pointed and has small open eyes and eyebrows, long sharp nose, open mouth with teeth showing. There is a curved line cut through the mask at each side of the mouth. Characteristically Ibo are the scarification marks (in relief) on the forehead and at the side of the face between each ear and eye. A row of small holes perforates the edge of the mask. There are traces of white paint. CONDITION: Paint wearing off.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Nupe. Maiden Spirit Mask (Agbogho Mmuo), 19th century. Wood, cloth, fiber, 16 1/2 x 7 1/4 x 11 in. (41.9 x 18.4 x 27.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.1592. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.22.1592_front_PS5.jpg)
    IMAGE front, CUR.22.1592_front_PS5.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
    Nupe. <em>Maiden Spirit Mask (Agbogho Mmuo)</em>, 19th century. Wood, cloth, fiber, 16 1/2 x 7 1/4 x 11 in. (41.9 x 18.4 x 27.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.1592. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.22.1592_front_PS5.jpg)