Eket Headdress, Nigeria

ogbom
height 26 1/2in (67.3cm)

Provenance
Martial Bronson Collection, Brussels, ca. 1970
Jacques Blanckaert Collection, Brussels
Galerie Hélène and Philippe Leloup, Paris
American Private Collection

"The full-figure headdresses worn in Ogbom dances," notes Herbert Cole (Igbo Arts - Community and Cosmos, Museum of Cultural History, UCLA, 1984, p. 174), "are among the most dynamic and finest Igbo works of art, comparable in quality to any sculpture from tropical Africa. The dance is known among Ibeku, Olokoro, Oboro, Ngwa, and Ozu-Item peoples, but versions employing carved headdresses seem to have been moribund in the early 1940s. Ogbom displays honored Ala (Earth) and called attention to her role in human and agricultural fertility and increase. In some areas it was a harvest celebration. During part of the performance women entered the arena to dance and sing around the Ogbom carrier."

While depictions of Ogbom are overwhelmingly female (Cole, ibid.), the work presented here depicts a male. However, the stylistic canons are present - "the face as a curving plane with sharp edges, the economical handling of body and limbs, and the disproportionate emphasis on the head. Overall, Ogbom carvings have great vitality as well as poise and dignity." (Murray, K.C., "Ogbom," Nigerian Field 10: 127-131)

The artist of this remarkable Ogbom headdress has simultaneously captured a balance of aggression and calm. Sculpted with rounded arms and legs and a broad, powerful chest, the knees and arms are bent, ready for action. In contrast, the facial features, with slit eyes that appear closed, and the diminutive, almost smiling mouth connote that the figure is in a peaceful state. A varied light and dark brown surface with encrustations and wear suggest this is a particularly early example, used for a long period of time in situ.