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These masks exaggerate the smallness of a young girl’s ideal features while the whiteness of her complexion is likened to “the purity of white chalk,” a substance used for ritually marking the body in both West Africa and the African Diaspora. The white pigment also serves as a ground for the elaborate uli decorations painted on young Igbo women’s skin. Some maiden spirit masks have elaborate coiffures, embellished with representations of hair combs modeled after late 19th century ceremonial hairstyles - http://www.carlos.emory.edu/helmet-mask |
