Ibibio puppets
From the book
Emotions in Motion
by E.A. Dagan

I do not have any Ibibio puppets in my collection. The images below are for reference purposes.

Click on any image to see full size version
86. Seated puppet with articulated arms, legs, head and jaw. manipulated by rod
Ibibio, Nigeria Mixed media. 68 cm
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
87. Puppet with articulated arms, legs and jaw, manipulated by rod
Ibibio, Nigeria Mixed media -96 cm
Afrika Museum. Berg en Dal, Holland/Hollands
88. Standing figure with articulated arms (one missing) and jaw, manipulated by rod
Ibibio, Nigeria Wood and nails/bois et clous, 62 cm
Galerie Amrad
89. Standing figure puppet on handle, with articulated arms (one missing) and jaw, manipulated by metal rod
Ibibio, Nigeria Wood and nails/bois et clous, 69 cm
Galerie Amrad
90. Puppet head,
manipulated by rod, many parts missing
Ibibio?, Nigeria Painted wood57 cm
Galerie Amrad
91. Puppet head,
manipulated by rod, many parts missing
Ibibio?, Nigeria Painted wood, 23 cm
Galerie Amrad
Standing Female (c. 1975): Ibibio, Nigeria. Performed by the Ekon Society. This puppet
epitomizes female beauty. She is young, marriageable, and is presented ceremoniously to
the community after seclusion in the "fattening house." Gift of Nancy Lohman Staub.

From: http://www.puppet.org/museum/permanent.shtml#ps
The images below are from the book:
The Dance, Art and Ritual of Africa
by Michel Huet

They are of Kebe-Kebe puppet heads from the Kuyu people in the Congo but I thought it
was an interesting example of how some puppet heads are used.
Now that the traditional institutions of the clans have fallen into disuse, the old rivalries find
their expression in a ritual contest, the Kyebe Kyebe. People from different villages are set
opposite to each other in this dance. Each one of them must, in accordance with a rigid set of
long-established traditional rules, perform a certain number of figures which are then judged
on their suitability. The dancer holds by the sleeve a puppet that he moves up and down,
backwards and forwards, all the while turning himself round and round in a tight circle until he
falls exhausted to the ground. His movements are very rapid, but at the same time they must
be smooth so that they suggest both the supple gliding of the ancestor and the whirling of a
tornado.
A Kebe-Kebe puppet head in the collection of
Piercarlo Saino, Italy
Examples of Ibibio dolls from the book:
Isn't S/He a Doll
Ibibio peoples, Nigeria
Wood, pigment
Taller 27cm
Fowler Museum, Gift of Arnold Rubin