Mask

Arts of Africa

19th/20th century

Igbo
Uzouwani village group, Nigeria
Coastal West Africa

Across the Igbo region, masquerade is a major means of communicating with spirits and ancestors, who play an important role in human life. Masquerade is among the major responsibilities of Igbo title institutions, which traditionally confer status and moral, political, and spiritual authority on their members. Sculptural innovation in masks is valued and encouraged within proscribed boundaries. This mask is composed of juxtaposed geometric planes and areas of positive and negative space. Two plump hornbills—ripe with symbolism because of the ease with which they move between land, sky, and water—perch on top of the mask’s plank.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Igbo
Title: Mask
Place: Nigeria (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1800–1999
Medium: Wood and pigment
Dimensions: H.: 80 cm (31 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Richard Faletti, the Faletti Family Collection
Reference Number: 2006.110

Mary Nooter Roberts and Allen F. Roberts, A Sense of Wonder: African Art from the Faletti Family Collection (Phoenix: Phoenix Art Museum, 1997), pg. 102, cat. 45 (ill.).

Phoenix Art Museum, A Sense of Wonder: African Art from the Faletti Family Collection, Dec. 13, 1997-Feb. 8, 1998, cat. 45; traveled to Chicago, The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, May 14-June 28, 1998, Urbana-Champaign, Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Sept. 18-Nov. 1, 1998, New York, N.Y., The Museum for African Art, Jan. 29-March 28, 1999, Davenport Museum of Art, Apr. 18-June 13, 1999, New Brunswick, N.J., Rutgers University, The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Sept. 12-Nov. 24, 1999, and The Boise Art Museum, Feb. 26-May 7, 2000.

Robertson African Arts, New York, N.Y., by 1993; sold to Richard Faletti (died 2006) and Barbara Faletti (died 2000), Chicago, Ill. and Phoenix, Ariz., 1993; given to the Art Institute, 2006.

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