Object Details
- Label Text
- Egungun masquerades appear at annual festivals, funerals and special local events throughout the year. Generally, they honor the spirits of ancestors--either by portraying them or demonstrating to the ancestors that their descendents are upholding their traditions.
- While some masks are made totally of cloth, others--especially character masks--have a sculpted wood crest or face. This crest mask, with prominent facial marks, may depict an ancestor or be an unknown character. Without the complete costume and accompanying music, songs and dance, identification of egungun is difficult.
- Description
- Wood crest mask in the form of a stylized human head, with a crest hairstyle covered with linear incised decoration and blue pigment. The face and neck have red pigment, semicircular eyes placed against the hairline, rows of horizontal scarification lines and a flared plain wood base pierced with attachment holes.
- Provenance
- Anonymous donor, acquired Lagos, Nigeria, 1970 to 1996
- Exhibition History
- Gifts to the National Collection of African Art, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 17, 1997-January 4, 1998
- Data Source
- National Museum of African Art
- Maker
- Yoruba artist
- Date
- ca. 1950
- Credit Line
- Anonymous gift in memory of Sylvia H. Williams
- Medium
- Wood, pigment
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 39.7 x 14.9 x 18.6 cm (15 5/8 x 5 7/8 x 7 5/16 in.)
- Type
- Mask
