Nigeria

Yoruba

Wood, kaolin paste 
Early 20th century
Length: 25.75 in, Width: 25 in
Other – Regalia – Headdress

This Yoruba Egungun Mask was carved by Salakatu Ayo Adugbologe [carver] pre 1940’s – Workshop in Abeokuta, Nigeria. It was collected around 1920’s. It is carved in the ABEOKUTA Style.  It features a well carved hunter’s turf coiffure and indigo accented facial scars. 

The Yoruba word Egungun can be translated as “powers concealed” and refers to masked performers or masquerades. The Egungun painted headdresses are worn to honor the ancestors and solicit support for their descendants during annual or biannual Egungun festivals, funerals to honor lineage ancestors, and in times of crisis when guidance of ancestors is sought. Each headdress form is regarded with different degrees of respect. Hunting is a revered profession among Yoruba men, as reflected in this ere Egungun olode headdress depicting a hunter with a distinctive braided hunter’s tuft.