Photographs © Tim Hamill
The Afikpo are a small subgroup of the Igbo people in Nigeria. Most of their masks are small and are danced at Yam festivals or for satire and entertainment. Two types here are classified. Those with a flat board superstructure are mba masks (11 & 13), those with peglike projections and a curved blade form on top are mmaji, or yam blade masks (12). The blade is the shape of a machete used to harvest the yams.
This Afikpo mask 12 has most likely been made to be sold.
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