Face Mask (Agboho mmuo) (possibly early 1900s): Art, History and Details

Face Mask (Agboho mmuo) (possibly early 1900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This small face mask would have been complemented by a separate, elaborate superstructure covered with cotton cloth. Though always worn by a man, the image glorifies youthful female beauty. Derived from chalky clay, the white coloration of the face refers to ancestral spirits whose powers the mask evokes. The masks dance in festivals that generally celebrate the dead but also appear at funerals to escort the deceased to the land of the ancestors.

Object facts

• Title: Face Mask (Agboho mmuo)
• Date: possibly early 1900s
• Culture: Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Igbo-style maker
• Type: Mask
• Technique: Wood, pigment, plant fiber, and cotton
• Dimensions: Overall: 16.9 x 11 x 6 cm (6 5/8 x 4 5/16 x 2 3/8 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 2016.10

A detail from the museum

Though always worn by a man, the imagery of this mask celebrates youthful female beauty.

Collection credit

Gift of Kim Sherwin

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.