Mask Maker in Workshop with Fish Mask

Image Arts

A photograph of a mask maker in his workshop holding a wooden fish mask.

A mask maker in his workshop holding a completed fish mask. Photograph by Edward R. Chadwick, c1935.

A photograph depicting a male mask maker in his workshop, holding a completed wooden mask representing a fish. The subject is seated on the ground, wearing a light-colored sleeveless garment, and is surrounded by wood shavings. The image, taken circa 1935, was provided by G. I. Jones to the Pitt Rivers Museum.

Community Notes

Onyeka Nwokike

Jul 27, 2026

This wooden fish mask is associated with the Ogbukele or Otobo masquerades, which are common among the Ijo (Ijaw) and neighboring Igbo groups in the Niger Delta region. These masks represent water spirits, known as owu, and are typically worn horizontally on the head, looking up at the sky, rather than over the face, as detailed in the Pitt Rivers Museum Collections Online.

Onyeka Nwokike

Jul 27, 2026

Gwilym Iwan Jones, a District Officer in Nigeria during the 1930s, donated the mask to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1938. As described in Preparing a Nigerian Mask for Display, Jones provided this photograph to the museum to assist in the reconstruction of the mask, which had been donated in a degraded condition.

Onyeka Nwokike

Jul 27, 2026

The photograph was taken by Edward Ralph Chadwick (1904–1975), a British colonial administrator in Nigeria. According to An Adventure that is their Own: E R Chadwick, he is recognized for his pioneering community development work in the Udi Division of Onitsha Province, which was the subject of the 1949 Academy Award-winning documentary Daybreak in Udi.