An Igbo headdress isi ekpe

An Igbo headdress isi ekpe
Nigeria
the carved head with a short handle to the top, relief scarifications and brows, with a recessed face with tubular eyes and long nose, the mouth with a pair of scroll end tusks, with black, white and blue pigment, on a hollowed tapered base with attachment holes,
34.2cm high.

Provenance
John-Paul Raad Collection, London.

Ekpe dances often use pairs of masks, this mask represents the masculine elephant spirit and is paired with a maiden spirit, considered his wife. Ekpe festivals are year end harvest celebrations thanking ancestors and Earth for abundent crops and children and honoring great warriors of the past.