YORUBA HEAD 2, Nigeria

Photographs © Hamill Gallery

YORUBA
Head 2
13" high
$800
SOLD

We are not sure of how this head was used. It has been vetted as old and authentic.

The word Egungun refers to masking associated with honored male lineage ancestors. While each mask has a personal name, it does not usually refer to a specific ancestor. Rather, Egungun masks embody the "collective force of the ancestors. All of the Egungun in a community appear annually during a joyful festival that celebrates the distinguished dead. During the festival, the ancestors bless the living, promote physical and spiritual health, settle disputes, enforce tradition and morality, and cleanse the community of witchcraft.

--from African Shapes of the Sacred: Yoruba Religious Art by Carol Ann Lorenz, Senior Curator, Longyear Museum of Anthropology, Colgate University.

RETURN TO YORUBA HEADS PAGE

GO TO YORUBA PAGE

GO TO EGUNGUN HEADDRESSES PAGE 1 (31-50)

GO TO EGUNGUN HEADDRESSES PAGE 2 (61-81)

GO TO EGUNGUN COSTUMES PAGE 1

GO TO EGUNGUN COSTUMES PAGE 2

GO TO YORUBA EXHIBITION PAGE

GO TO MASKS AND HEADS PAGE

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