"Gelede" helmet mask "igi agasa" · Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3037923
sold
EUR 300
Size
H: 32 cm
H: 12.6 inch
Description
wood, black paint, kaolin, indigo blue pigment, characteristic attributes: flat disc-shaped beard, two erect “ear-like” protrusions and striped painting, dam., abrasion of paint, rep. (breakage right projection, fixed by nails), cracks;
the two blade-like projections are identified as machetes “ada”. They hint at the power of the mask to challenge, or “cut off”, the forces of evil. The accompanying costume is made from palm fibres, the mask appears in the night roaming the village and singing.
Comparing literature
Lawal, Babatunde, The Gèlèdé Spectacle, Seattle, London 1996, p. 207 Witte, Hans, A Closer Look, Berg en Dal 2004, 25