Face Mask (Agboho mmuo)
Unknown Artist
possibly early 1900s
Medium
Wood, pigment, plant fiber, and cotton
Dimensions
16.9 × 11 × 6 cm
Classification
Mask
Department
African Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Kim Sherwin
Accession Number
2016.10
About this artwork
This small face mask would have been complemented by a separate, elaborate superstructure covered with cotton cloth. Though always worn by a man, the image glorifies youthful female beauty. Derived from chalky clay, the white coloration of the face refers to ancestral spirits whose powers the mask evokes. The masks dance in festivals that generally celebrate the dead but also appear at funerals to escort the deceased to the land of the ancestors.