Urhobo Female Mask, Nigeria

Johan Henau, Antwerp
Piet Blanckaert, Knokke
Lempertz, Brussels, January 28, 2014, lot 79
Karl-Ferdinand Schaedler, Munich, acquired at the above auction

In her discussion of a closely related Urhobo mask in the Musée Barbier-Mueller in Geneva, Hahner-Herzog (1997: pl. 46) notes: "The works of the Urhobo, a small edo-speaking ethnic group inhabiting the northwestern part of the Niger delta, are little known but of high aesthetic quality.  These include clay and wood sculptures used to honor ancestors and supernatural forces, as well as masks associated with water and earth spirits. [...]

"The information available about the mask's meaning is diverse, but suggests a basic link with Ohworu, a powerful water spirit.  On the one hand, the mask is described as one of the 'children of the spirit' (emedjo), who appear when the Niger River has reached its highest level in order to bring the 'blessing of deep water' to the villages.  On the other hand, this type of mask is said to represent a 'girl with a youthful body' (omotokpokpo).  According to Perkins Foss, the latter implies a girl of marriageable age (opha), who stands under the protection of water spirits and, when presented as a bride, wears an elaborate coiffure of a kind evoked in the mask by the gracefully arched superstructure and hornlike extensions.  That it is indeed a female depiction is underscored by the fine facial features: oval, tapering face, lowered eyelids, straight nose, and broad, closed mouth."