The wooden Igbo helmet mask is pigmented and carved to be evocative of an elephant spirit of zoomorphic form. A trunk-like appendage with a single hole ar the lower portion projects from the mask's forehead, between the two white-painted eyes and stops approximentely one-half way down the front of the mask. A white blaze beneath the trunk dissects the frontal portion of the mask to the bottom edge, providing contrast to the dark blotchy pigment that embellishes the majority of the visage. White paint surrounds the mouth opening at the base of the mask, and decorates the pair of tusks protrusions that emerge from the lower edge of the headdress. The mask would have been worn during a dance by men at agricultural festivals and funerals of prominent members of the village.
