Headdress (Ago Egungun)

Description

Egungun, a widespread Yoruba masquerade, is staged to honor the ancestors and the newly deceased, who continue to influence the lives of their kin. Organized at funerals, on family occasions, and during annual or biennial festivals, the different types of egungun are each associated with a distinctive cloth costume, some of which include a wooden mask or headdress. The tufted hairstyle of this example mimics the flap of a hunter’s cap that hides protective medicines.

Provenance

John J. Klejman (died 1995), Klejman Gallery, New York, N.Y., by 1969 [acquisition documentation in curatorial file]; sold to the Art Institute, 1969.

Headdress (Ago Egungun)

Ojerinde

Mid–late 19th century

Accession Number

31581

Medium

Wood and pigment

Dimensions

33.1 × 23.2 × 23.5 cm (13 × 9 1/8 × 9 1/4 in.)

Classification

headdress

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Edward E. Ayer Endowment in memory of Charles L. Hutchinson