mask, or headpiece; male, carved wood, dark brown; face has elongated horizontal & vertical scarifications; distinctive headdress w/ great tuft of hair extending from upper left side of head; two holes on shoulder on the back; cracked & stapled several places. H: 26 cm
Donor:
Berta Bascom
Collection place:
Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Verbatim coll. place:
West Africa, Nigeria, Yoruba; Purchased in Ibadan
Culture or time period:
Yoruba
Collector:
Berta Bascom and William Russell Bascom
Collection date:
1965
Materials:
Wood (plant material)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Masks (costume)
Function:
5.1 Religion and Divination: Objects and garb associated with practices reflecting submission, devotion, obedience, and service to supernatural agencies
Context of use:
this Egungun mask represents Eshu; it is worn during the annual Egungun festivals. the Egungun cult is dedicated to the worship of the God Amaiyegun, who taught people how to make & use costumes which mask their wearers and thus saved the people of Ife when Death and his followers were killing them. *purchased for $6.00 in 1965.
Department:
Africa (except Ancient Egypt)
Dimensions:
height 26 centimeters
Comment:
B/W photo stored with Bascom Collection Card Index file. PAHMA Storage Loc: W-18-8
Loans:
S1968-1969 #39: Contra Costa College (November 18, 1968–December 27, 1968) and S1968-1969 #87: College of Marin (April 3, 1969–May 2, 1969)