Mumuye Mask
Nigeria
Wood and white pigment - 17 x 35 cm
Provenance:
Pace Gallery, New York
Michel Leiris collection, Paris
Private collection, Belgium
Masks of the Benue river area are typically abstract and schematic. They are used during the Vabong ceremony, which constitutes the fifth phase of one of the Mumuye initiation rituals. During the Vabong, masks representing both male and female spirits were brought out as a signal for the initiates to perform ceremonial whipping.
