NIGERIA Ibibio mask, Idiok Ekpo. H. 27 cm. Provenance: Albert J. Safaris, Paris: Albert J. Safaris, Paris. Millon, Sale of the Albert Saféris collection, April 16, 2024, lot 111. Private collection. Publications: Catalog, La Grande Aventure Cubiste, Paris, Salon des Indépendants, Société des artistes indépendants, 1978, fig. 14 Catalog, Masques africains, Choisy-le-Roi, 1981 Frey B., Art et ethnographie d'Afrique Noire, Musée départemental des Vosges, Epinal, 1989, fig. 77 Exhibitions Paris, La Grande Aventure Cubiste, Grand Palais, March 16 - April 9, 1978. Choisy-le-roi, Masques africains, Théâtre Paul Eluard, January 1981. Epinal, Art et ethnographie d'Afrique Noire, Musée départemental des Vosges, May 17 - June 12, 1989. Ancient Idiok Ekpo mask featuring a stylized anthropomorphic face. The forehead is rounded, the eyelids partly cover the eyes, the nose is absent and the half-open mouth reveals irregular teeth. This is a "disease" mask, depicting the symptoms of gangosa, a tropical disease that attacks the nose and mouth. See Christie's, June 23, 2016, lot 112, for a similar mask from the Loudmer collection. The list of publications and exhibitions reproduced here corresponds to the information inscribed on three labels glued to the reverse of the mask.