JABA OR KORO PEOPLE, NIGERIA

‍

The Koro of Nigeria create headdresses such as this one for themselves and for neighboring tribes, including the Ham (Jaba) and possibly the Kagoro, Kaje and Kamantam. Similarities in their respective religious and artistic traditions suggest a close connection in origin, and the mask is the primary link, representing a tribe’s ‘mother spirit.’

According to William Fagg, these remarkable head crests, which in appearance seem almost half headdress, half mask, appeared at spring and autumn festivals in the home region of the Koro. After a succession of masquerade dancers depicting bush spirits, animals, and hunters had performed before the community, ‘a troupe of dancers representing the able-bodied young men of the tribe with abstract headpieces danced vigorously around two tall figures, the mother spirits with turreted headdresses and dressed in great tent-like painted fiber gowns. They would twirl around so that the gowns filled out majestically, and every few minutes would envelop one of the young men in a motherly embrace. Thus was the benevolence of the ancestors sought for the work of the year.’

The enigmatic, enchanting form of this maternal image shows an arched shape straddling a central column, suggesting the shape of an abstract, faceless head. Gridded grooves highlighted with white provide a ghostly perimeter that drapes the head like a veil. The neck and inner arch of the ‘face’ area are richly textured with a profuse covering of red abrus seeds, portions of which have been lost, leaving a pitted and earth-like surface.