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