Product Description
Zoomorphic Mambila Figure – Cameroon/Nigeria
This zoomorphic figure with protruding eyes and a large open mouth and carved teeth is a classic example of the Mambila people of northern Nigeria. They are thought to embody ancestors who are responsible for the clan’s wealth. The wide range of uses to which such a figure may have been employed was probably determined by the medicines in the possession of the owner, and how it was activated, rather than by specific stylistic characteristics of the sculpture itself.
Made of 100% wood, red pigments.
Model is W 39 – H 20 and weight 1.1 kg.
Description
This zoomorphic dog figure with protruding eyes and a large open mouth and carved teeth is a classic example of the Mambila people of northern Nigeria. Traces of red and/or white pigment highlight features such as horns, eyes, ears, teeth, and tongue. The surface is covered with encrusted patina. It shows evidence that the mask was repainted several times. This mask would have been worn over the head, with the dancer looking out between the open jaws. Holes around the mask were used to attach a large costume made out of feathers.
The art of the Mambila people is very specific and has an expressionist consonance revealed through an exaggeration of forms, an influence coming from their neighbors in Cameroon and in particular from Grassland. The Mambila created statues of ancestors, objects of protection, masks and musical instruments used for the biennial sowing and harvest festivities. These sculptures can be identified by their heart-shaped face and the application of red and white pigment. The masks could only be seen by men. They were worn along with a costume made from fibers. The masks and the statues couldn’t be seen by the women and were kept in a net hung in a stilt hut guarded by the head of the family.
The Mambilla or Mambila people of Nigeria live on the Mambilla plateau (in ‘Sardauna’ Local government area of Taraba State in Nigeria). A small fraction of Mambilla migrants left the Mambilla Plateau for the Ndom Plain (also known as the Tikar Plain) on the Cameroon side of the international border as well as in a couple of small villages, such as New Namba, further north towards the towns of Gashaka and Banyo.
Additional information
Weight | 1.1 kg |
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Dimensions | 20 × 39 cm |
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