This is the rating and price for Fine 20Th C. African Igbo Wood Spirit Okperegede Mask

Description : West Africa, Nigeria, Igbo (Ibo) peoples, ca. mid-20th century CE. A beautiful, stylized wooden mask with painted details, raised carved features, and an ornate coiffure used in the Okperegede Masquerade. The eyes are deep set and slit carved for the wearer to see through, set into a rounded brow above a protruding nose, and a slightly smiling mouth full of teeth. To the sides of the face are raised and incised triangular patterns, painted stippling marks down the brow and nose, and black lines on the cheeks that represent scarification or tattoos. The Okperegede is a festival that commemorates the reunion of a living community with its ancestors and the Igbo use masks as incarnated spirits of the dead which are painted white, which is the color of the spirit. Masked dancers would wear elaborate costumes, including being sometimes covered with mirrors, so that their true identities disappeared, absorbed by the spirit they portrayed. Size: 10.75 H (27.3 cm), custom display stand included. The Igbo use a great variety - literally thousands - of masks, which represent and incarnate unspecified spirits or the deceased, forming an extensive community of souls. Perhaps the most outstanding characteristic of the many Igbo masks is their coloring, usually featuring chalk white to symbolize the color of the spirit. Masked dancers traditionally wore extremely elaborate costumes, some also ornamented with mirrors that reflect light when in movement, and often their feet and hands were covered. With their masks, the Igbo have a penchant for contrasting beauty and bestiality, the feminine and the masculine, black and white. The masks are featured in a variety of dramas: sacred rituals (for ancestors and invocation of the gods), social satires, initiation rites, and public festivals. Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection, ex-Dr. Edward A. Spiegel collection All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm. Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping. #170393
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