Water spirit mask
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Lot: 289
89th Tribal Art AuctionWater spirit mask
Nigeria, Ijaw
| Provenance | Size | Starting price / estimated price |
|---|---|---|
| George Oltay, Johannesburg, South Africa Egon Günther, Johannesburg, South Africa Sotheby's, New York, 18 November 2000, lot 87 Zemanek-Münster, Würzburg, 28 May 2011, lot 233 |
H: 15 inch | This object is not available anymore. |
wood, pigment, inscribed "EG", base
The Ijaw believed that they shared the rivers dominating their environment with beings they called the "Water People" and they paid tribute to these quasi-human spirits in their masquerades. A myth from the Kalabari (eastern Ijaw city-state) tells how a woman abducted by water spirits returned to teach her townspeople the plays she had seen beneath the water.
Werth, Albert Johannes, Art of Africa, African Art from South African Collections/Kuns van Afrika, Afrika-Kuns uit Suid-Afrikaanse Versamelings, 1970, p. 171
Exhibited:
African Art, South African Collections, The Fifteenth Transvaal Academy, Johannesburg 1969 & Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria 1970
