Colorful Tiv Kwagh-Hir Festival Mask 14″ – Nigeria – African Art

Tribe Information

About the Tiv people

“The 1,000,000 Tiv people live from farming fields on the left bank of the Benue River and take their name from their eponymous ancestor. They carve figures which are either large and elongated or naturally proportioned with round heads and occasionally scarification at the corners of the mouth and a crested coiffure. Some of these figures were used as posts for reception huts, while others, called Ihambe, are to linked to the concept of fecundity and marriage. Tiv blacksmiths have achieved notoriety for their ‘prestige’ adzes in which the handle ends in a stylized human head with a blade sprouting from it. These are used during festivities and important meetings. Their metal output also includes small copper figures with splayed legs and rounded heads”

Source:
Baquart, Jean-Baptiste. The Tribal Arts of Africa. New York: Thames and Hudson Inc. 1998. Print.