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Maiden Spirit Mask (Isi abogefi)

Image Masks
A carved wooden maiden spirit mask with a white face and elaborate headdress.
Maiden spirit mask (Isi abogefi) collected by Northcote Thomas in Agukwu Nri, 1911.

A photograph showing the interior and exterior of an Igbo maiden spirit mask, known locally as Isi abogefi, collected by Northcote Thomas in Agukwu Nri in 1911. The mask is carved from egbu wood and features a white facial surface with yellow and ochre pigments on the forehead and black pigments on the nose and eyebrow ridges. It is decorated with circular raised-relief dots on the cheeks and linear patterns along the margins. The elaborate headdress, recorded as isi nkpo umu nwayi, includes a central crest, four combs, and carved birds representing a black pigeon (ndò) and a parrot. The mask was used in masquerades representing ideals of youthful femininity, typically performed by men during the annual Ude Agbogho (Fame of the Maidens) festival and the feast of Anuoye, a goddess of protection in Nri. Fibres remaining on the interior edges provide evidence that the mask was previously attached to a costume.

Community Notes

Onyeka Nwokike

Sep 17, 2026

The pigments applied to the mask are derived from specific natural sources: black (oji) and yellow (èdò) are obtained from trees, red (ufie) is sourced from camwood, and white (nzu) is made from chalk or white clay (Conservation notes: Maiden Spirit mask - [Re:]Entanglements). A split on the proper left of the mask was repaired using an iron staple and fibre tie, both of which are covered in the same pigments as the rest of the object, suggesting that this repair was performed during the mask's initial construction (N. W. Thomas Archives - [Re:]Entanglements).

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