Igbo Costume & Head Covering for ‘Maiden’ Dance

This fine, well-preserved and colourful dance costume is from the Igbo people of Nigeria. It comprises a one-piece ‘overall’ style  costume and a separate head covering. The costume is decorated with appliqué strips of textile, all carefully couched onto the broader garment, in abstract, geometric bands, and all using rich ochre-type colours such as brick red and orange.

The costume is for a maiden masquerade in which male dancers wear carved wooden masks coloured white with black markings, called ‘maidens’, in conjunction with such a costume. The purpose of the masquerade is to revere and glorify youthful female beauty most particularly because young, nubile women will shortly bear children and thus perpetuate the family and the race, and so are key to the continued survival and prosperity of the Igbo. The inherent power of young women is melded with power drawn from the ancestors.

The costume here includes a small amulet bag attached to the blouse over the belly button.

A similar costume in the Menil Collection is illustrated in Cole (2013, pl. 58)

The costume comprises imported yarns and felts sewn over homespun cotton cloth.

The costume is in very good condition. There is no obvious insect damage and no repairs. (The costume is shown here displayed on a mannequin but the mannequin  is not included.)

Above: part of a Maiden spectacle, photographed by G.I. Jones, near Awka, circa 1935.