ClassificationsAfrican Art

Egungun

Place CreatedNigeria, Africa

CultureYoruba

Datelate 19th-late 20th Century

MediumCloth, wood, cowrie shells, fiber, skin, encrustations

Credit LineEx coll. William S. Arnett

Dimensions21 13/16 in. (55.4 cm)

Object number1994.004.501

Label TextThe Egungun cult was adopted in Oyo from Nupe invaders sometime in the 16th century and became politically powerful through its control by the Oyo Mesi or Council of Chiefs. The cult venerates ancestors and gave rise to a wide array of masquerades that impersonate ancestral spirits. The most important of these are elaborate paneled cloth structures, which may or may not include a carved mask component on top. Here, the cloth cylinder hangs from a circular frame and is composed of indigo-dyed, hand-spun cotton strip weave inset with imported velvet trade cloth. In front, a net panel studded with cowrie shells acts as a concealing screen for the masquerader's face. The small carved head is painted with laundry blue, a popular pigment with Yoruba carvers, and the frame is hung with small bundles of powerful medicines or relics.
Exhibition HistoryAfrican Artistry: Technique and Aesthetics in Yoruba Sculpture, The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, April 17 - May 25, 1980
Art of Nigeria from the William S. Arnett Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, October 15, 1994 - January 2, 1995
MCCM Permanent Collection Installation, Rotation 2, February 1997 - July 1998
MCCM Permanent Collection Installation, March 29, 2013 - December 1, 2014
MCCM Permanent Collection Installation, January 15, 2019 - September 24, 2019
Published ReferencesHenry John Drewal, African Artistry: Technique and Aesthetics in Yoruba Sculpture (Atlanta: The High Museum of Art, 1980), 78, number 136.

ProvenanceEx coll. William S. Arnett (1939-2020), Atlanta, Georgia, from at least 1980.

Status

Not on view

Collections