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Standing Igbo Wooden Male Figure

A photograph of a carved wooden Igbo male figure with a flat-top headdress and ribbed torso patterns.
Photograph of a standing Igbo wooden male figure. From the collection of Sir Raymond Menendez, donated by Lady Menendez. British Museum, No: Af,B62.11.

A monochromatic gelatin silver print depicting a standing anthropomorphic carving of an adult male. The figure is carved from wood and features a stylized elongated, cylindrical headdress with a flat top. The face includes horizontal slit eyes, a broad nose, and a wide mouth with defined teeth. The torso is characterized by parallel horizontal incised lines on the chest and shoulders, with a prominent ribbed columnar element extending vertically from the mid-chest to the pelvic region. The arms are positioned vertically against the sides with oversized, segmented hands, and the legs are columnar, ending in large rectangular feet with deep vertical incisions for toes. The composition emphasizes extreme verticality and bilateral symmetry.

Community Notes

Onyeka Nwokike

Oct 13, 2026

Sir Manuel Raymond Menendez, the original collector, served as a Puisne Judge in Southern Nigeria from 1899 to 1904 and subsequently as the Chief Justice of Northern Nigeria between 1904 and 1908, according to the British Museum's Collections Online. He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and received a knighthood in 1906.

Onyeka Nwokike

Oct 13, 2026

The British Museum indicates that the figure represents an unclothed adult male and suggests the incised patterns on the torso may be scarification. The ethnic and geographic identification of the subject was provided by N F Barley on November 21, 1996, as recorded in the museum's archives.

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