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Isi ikoro (head-drum) in the ancestral shrine house, Mma obu (ancestor-rest house), for Agbogo ward, Mgbom village, Afikpo Village-Group, Nigeria

African Art Museum

Isi ikoro (head-drum) in the ancestral shrine house, Mma obu (ancestor-rest house), for Agbogo ward, Mgbom village, Afikpo Village-Group, Nigeria
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
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Object Details

sova.eepa.2000-007_ref593
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo7eb1cfc9e-846b-4362-987d-6271d03b0c06
Local Numbers
O-95/1951-1953 EEPA 2000-070085
General
Title source: Dr. Simon Ottenberg, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
Photographer
Ottenberg, Simon
Collection Photographer
Ottenberg, Simon
Place
Africa
Nigeria
Topic
Cultural landscapes
Vernacular architecture
Religious buildings
Shrines
Photographer
Ottenberg, Simon
Culture
Igbo (African people)
See more items in
Simon Ottenberg photographs
Extent
1 Slide (col.)
Date
1951-1953
Custodial History
Donated by Simon Ottenberg, 2000.
Archival Repository
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
Identifier
EEPA.2000-007, Item EEPA 2000-007-0085
Type
Archival materials
Slides
Color slides
Collection Rights
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Genre/Form
Color slides
Scope and Contents
This photograph was taken by Dr. Simon Ottenberg while conducting field research at Afikpo village-group, southeastern Nigeria, from December 1951 to March 1953.
Original title reads, "Isi ikoro (head-drum), in the men's rest house for Agbogo ward, Mgbom Village. Technically it is a gong but it is called a drum at Afikpo. The rest house, called obiogo (obu ogo), is found for each ward in Mgbom and other villages as a rule. It is where, at the date of this research, masks of the men's society and other paraphernalia were stored. The isi ikoro is the head end of a large slit gong. It is the Mgbom Village drum. Before being played to announce a death, to call the villagers together, or for some important event, this seated male figure must be sacrificed to with a chicken, which accounts for all the feathers on it. The red cap signifies that the figure represents an elder who wear such caps. He has an eagle feather in the cap, signifying in the old days that he had taken a head. At the back side of the drum, in the dark, is a crudely carved figure of a female, undecorated." [Ottenberg field research notes, O Series,December 1951-March 1953].
Collection Restrictions
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Other Archival Materials
Simon Ottenberg Papers are located at the National Anthropological Archives, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
EEPA.2000-007_ref593
Large EAD
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo7eb1cfc9e-846b-4362-987d-6271d03b0c06
EEPA.2000-007
EEPA
Record ID
ebl-1536864686513-1536864686718-1

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