Object Notes

The empty hole atop this figure's head and in its belly suggests that this small "brass"-studded nkisi may have been deactivated. These cavities once contained potent medicines that empowered the figure. According to some scholars, studded figures like this one were used to cure smallpox.

All power figures (minkisi; sing. nkisi) are containers for consecrated substances, or "medicine," that empower them to protect, heal, or destroy. Such medicines are packed into body orifices or within a visible medicine pack on the torso that is sealed with a mirror.

Small sculpted figures holding a vessel in one hand are called mbulenga, which means "for beauty, for good luck" in the Lulua language, and were believed to offer general well-being.

Hands on his hips , this male figure stands securely on the back of an animal. The precise meaning of this figure is unclear.

Among the Ada and related Igbo subgroups, the annual njenji masquerade ushers in the festival season. It is held on the first day of a four-day event that moves from village to village and is arranged by an age-grade comprised of males in their late 20s.

Rendered in a naturalistic style, this face has humanlike eyes, a mouth, ears, and a broad nose. The relief imagery of horns rising from behind the ears, serpents issuing from the nostrils, and a knot at the bridge of the nose are, however, unnatural.

This standing male figure with a hollow torso—revealed by removing its head—once held the medicine used to activate supernatural powers. The figure's right hand was accidentally broken and replaced by a blade, suggesting the regenerative abilities of the chief and his ancestors.

This mask of a water spirit (bini oru) originated among the Ijo people who live along the waterways of the Niger River's inland delta. Water spirits are believed to provide entertainment on secular occasions, accompany the dead to the Afterlife, participate in purification ceremonies to sweep towns clean of polluti

This figure represents a female devotee of the anjenu (nature spirits); the scarification marks on her body may signify that she was initiated into womanhood and into the worship of the anjenu.

Annual festivals held throughout Yorubaland incorporate masquerades that celebrate the values and social roles upon which the well-being of the towns depend. The festival, called Epa (or Elefon) in Ekiti towns, is characterized by the appearance of large-scale wooden headdresses. Epa headdresses, which are carved from a single block of wood, can be quite tall and heavy.