An Ogoni mask

An Ogoni mask, Nigeria, State Rivers region, collected in Port Harcourt.

This carved wooden mask is attributable to the Ogoni (self‑identified as Kana), an indigenous population inhabiting the fertile floodplain and tidal forest country of the lower Niger–Cross River delta in southeastern Nigeria’s Rivers State. Ogoni masking traditions are distinctive yet related to the wider artistic milieu of the Niger Delta, sharing affinities with neighboring Ibibio and Ijo masking practices.
Ogoni masks are diverse in type and function. They range from small face masks with articulated jaws, often termed Elu (meaning “spirit”), to larger, more zoomorphic or anthropo‑zoomorphic forms. A characteristic feature of some masks is a hinged or movable lower jaw, which could open and close during performance, symbolizing speech, spirit negotiation, or liminality between life and otherworldly realms.
In Ogoni society, masks were historically activated within ritual, funerary, and seasonal cycles. They accompanied ceremonies such as funerals, post‑harvest festivities, and karikpo acrobatic celebrations, where masked dancers embodied ancestral forces, spirit mediators, or social archetypes. White and brown pigment residues on the surface often signal engagement with cosmological associations (e.g., kaolin near the eyes denoting spiritual contact) or with dramatic visibility during performance.
Although many Ogoni masking practices have been disrupted by colonialism, Christian missions, and urban migration, these objects retain formal markers of indigenous identity: stylized facial planes, expressive features, and dynamic elements such as articulated jaws. Their presence in Port Harcourt collections reflects historic patterns of acquisition and circulation, where ceremonial objects entered urban markets in the early to mid‑20th century
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From an academic and museological perspective, Ogoni masks should be interpreted less as static art objects and more as operative agents embedded in performative and social life—objects whose meaning was realized in motion, ritual engagement, and community recognition rather than in isolated display.

CAB33728

Height: 26 cm
Weight: 1,3 kg (incl. stand)