An Ijo zoomorphic fish/corcodile mask, Nigeria, with glass-eyes and movable fins, coloured with white, occre and reddish picments, worn on the forehead, probably from the Western area of the Ijo country.; the Ijo population is living in the Niger Delta

Water spirits play an important role in the religious ideas of the Ijo. They believe that these spirits(owuamapu) are like humans in terms of their strengths and weaknesses and that before their birth, human beings live among them. Once born, the Ijo maintain contact with them through prayers in order to gain their favors.Celebrations in honor of the water spirits lasting several days are held annually, either at the beginning of the year or the time of high water, in order to gain the spirits’ goodwill and insure the group’s welfare. In the course of festivities various masqueraders embodying the water spirits perform, and the presence of the spirits, by whom they feel possessed, is manifested in the intensity of their dancing. The Ijo masks for the cults of the water spirits are made in the form of aquatic animals, like fishes, hippopotamus and crocodiles. or other zoomorphic shapes like a chimera combined by different water-animals like the enclosed headdress.

600 - 800,- Euro

sold

Height: 28 cm
Length: 78 cm
Weight: 1,4 kg