Amazing,African Mask,IGBO,MAIDEN SPIRIT,Mask,Mascara

Stunning  African Igbo Maiden Spirit Mask

Dimensions

23"H  x    11"W   x   14"D

Mid.20th Century

Age Cracks & Old Repair

Base not Included

"FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE"

Keep down for more pictures!

Every Igbo town differs in terms of its range of festivals and types of masks, and oftentimes the spiritual and stylistic forms intermingle between regions,
making it difficult to trace this mask to one particular location. However, masking traditions throughout the various Igbo regions share underlying themes
and similar spirits, and so the purpose of this maiden mask can be at least somewhat clarified. Of the two most important mask types among the Igbo--
those idealizing the qualities of young women, and those representing the powers of men, the maiden mask embodies the former. When the mask is
worn, always by a man, the maiden spirit a dancer personifies represents the ideals of youthful feminine grace and beauty, albeit exaggerated both in
the masks and the performance of them.

Maiden mask artists favored red, orange, yellow, and black pigments to highlight their carvings, along with other colors, and these can be seen on the
entirety of the mask. As in a number of the more elaborate masks, which can have anywhere from one to three hair crests.

Maiden masks are used mostly during agricultural festivals (usually the dry season) and the second funerals of prominent society members. On latter
occasions maiden spirits are invoked alongside other spirits as appropriate escorts of the highly respected dead into the spirit world. During agricultural
or other ceremonies, however, maiden spirits appear to aid in watching over the living and to promote abundant harvests, fertility, and general
prosperity. Maiden spirits are light-hearted in contrast to more menacing spirits of the Igbo world, which often generate a more serious atmosphere.
Maiden maskers perform almost theatrically, as if in a play, their purpose to entertain both human and spirit audiences.

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