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Object Name: Face mask (Ikpobi)
Artist: Ochai? (active 1910–1950)
Place of Origin: Idoma/Akweya peoples, Otobi village
Date/Era: Early to mid-20th century
Medium/Materials: Wood, pigment
Credit Line: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Gift of Bernice Barth.
Accession Number: X2009.16.1
This delicately carved whiteface mask highlights one aspect of Ochai’s style: the lines of small incisions along the sides of the face and down the center of the forehead that emulate patterns of facial scarification.
Source: Gallery Wall Text, Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley, 2011