Maska paszportowa. Igbo. Nigeria. Brąz. XX wiek.

Passport masks retain their sacredness among all African tribes where they are found. The only thing that distinguishes them is their size. They are intended for individual use, assigned to a person and accompany them throughout their life, witnessing its successive stages, initiation, marriage, membership in associations, positions achieved in the family, clan, or tribe. It is a protective spirit, a kind of talisman or amulet. Sometimes a passport mask was a sign of tribal affiliation, which was useful when traveling. However, it was not intended to be displayed. It was most often worn in a pouch around the neck or sewn into the fabric on the back or shoulder.

Passport masks are usually representations of a human face, but the individual features of the owner are irrelevant. Sometimes these masks only reflect gender. In short, the mask is the spirit of an ancestor or, more often, ancestors.

Passport masks are most common among the Dan people and their neighbors. There are exceptions among the Dan people - masks depicting a bird's head rather than a human face.

I must admit that the small size of these masks and the abstract way of depicting ancestors make it difficult for me to identify the tribe.

The mask I am offering personally resembles Igbo masks the most. It is not without significance that passport masks made of bronze are most common there, and masks made of materials other than wood are a considerable exception. I would also like to add that it was in the Igbo village of Ukuwu that archaeologists found the oldest metal objects discovered south of the Sahara. Among the artifacts were objects cast using the "lost wax" technique.

Personally, I was fascinated by the eye sockets, or rather the empty eye sockets, in this mask. Its beauty made me the owner of the mask. It is 18 cm high, 13 cm wide, and 7 cm deep. I would date it to the first half of the 20th century.