Masks and Carving

A large wooden mask with a face and the base and carved details included figures above.

 

Masks and Carving
 

The Unmasked: Spirit in the City exhibition features the new display of an Agaba mask carved by Tonye Agala.

 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/HBo6ozPnkMk

 

A short film in the exhibition Unmasked: Spirit in the City documents the carving of an Agaba mask by Tonye Agala, filmed in April 2018. This short film includes the performance of mask libation songs by Elder Tamuno Amboy Amabeoku and Lucia Lucky George, in the Igbo language, with subtitles in English explaining the mask making process depicted.
The captions are included as text below with some stills from the film. 

 

Tonye is self-taught and makes copies of Italian designer furniture between mask commissions. His other recent commissions at the time of this film included for Chief Ateke Tom, who is a former militia leader and is now a traditional chief and patron of the arts. 

 

A man stands in front of a row of six-foot-long logs

Golden wood that is often used to carve masks.

 

The mask is carved from agwu or golden wood (Alstonia boonei). Logs are floated along the creeks of the Niger Delta to Port Harcourt, where they are cut and processed at Timber Market. Golden wood is valued for mask carving because it is soft to work, and the masks are light once they have dried out. 

 

A carved mask stored in the corner of darkened room

Mask referenced as inspiration for the carving of the new Agaba mask.

 

This mask was inspired by an initial design sketched by the carver. Details were borrowed from older masks including the facial features from this old mask. Ideas were also drawn from photographs of other Agaba performances. Some details, like the pair of boxers who appear on the back of the mask, were improvised and inspired by images in newspapers. 

 

 

Portrait of a man in a hat, pointing his finger in the air.

Amboy, the elder of the mask, who oversaw the making of the mask. Film still from footage by David Pratten.

The elder of the mask, Amboy Amabeoku, oversaw the mask design and production. Amboy was one of the original members of an Agaba group called '007'. 

Tonye was training four apprentices during the carving, including his son. As the mask reached completion, everyone was involved in different aspects of carving, sanding, priming and painting. 

 

A group of four men crouch around a wooden mask on the floor.

Tonye Agala with other members of his workshop who helped to carve the agaba mask. Photograph by David Pratten.

 

This mask was made strictly to be displayed in the museum. It cannot be worn because it is too heavy, and contains no Agaba spirit. 

 

 

A carved wooden mask with a face in the lower half and carved figures in the top half.

Agaba mask carved by Tonye Agala, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in April 2018. Currently on display in the Long Gallery, Pitt Rivers Museum.

 

 

Find more examples of Agaba masks on display in the museum's main gallery

 

 

schematic floor plan showing location of objects in the gallery

 

Wooden mask with a face featuring an open mouth with sharp teeth and horns on the top of the head.

Mgbedike mask on display in the main galleries of the Pitt Rivers Museum. PRM 1938.15.8

Wooden mask with a face featuring fangs and spiralled horns curved towards each other on the top of the head, on top of which is a leopard-like animal.

Mgbedike mask on display in the main galleries of the Pitt Rivers Museum. PRM 1938.15.16

 

Mgbedike means ‘time of the brave’ in the Nigerian Igbo language. It is also known as Agaba. Large horns are a common feature of the mask along with impressive teeth and figures which are attached to the top of the head. These figures are typically fierce-looking and incorporate aggressive animal and masculine characteristics. The mask is carved from light wood, but it is large and requires a strong, sturdy dancer to carry it. Their identities and reputations are ‘open secrets’. During an Agaba performance the mask is protected and empowered with eggs smashed into its forehead. 

Both the masks pictured below were collected by GI Jones in Nigeria in the 1930s. They are similar to those depicted in a film by George Basden, which is on display in the Long Gallery as part of the exhibition, as well as masks described by Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe. 

 

 

A man lies on the floor using a small paintbrush to paint the face of a large wooden mask.
A composite image showing two side views alongside a full frontal view of a wooden mask that has a face in the lower half and carved figures in the upper half.
A composite image showing two side views alongside a full frontal view of the back of a wooden mask that has a tiger face in the lower half and carved figures in the upper half.
A composite image showing two side views alongside a full frontal view of the back of a wooden mask in the form of a face with an open mouth with pointed teeth and horns on top of the head.
A full frontal view of a wooden mask in the form of a face with an open mouth with pointed teeth and curved spiral horns, with a small leopard-like animal perched on top.