Helmet mask "epa" or "elofon", mother and child ·  Nigeria, Yoruba, Abeokuta/ Ekiti · ID: 3044950

Description

wood, polychrome painted, breakages, paint chipped off/ repainted, rep.

Epa helmet masks are used to promote health and wellbeing within a community.

Epa masqueraders perform slow, steady and controlled movements due to the huge and heavy masks they carry on their heads during performances. The masqueraders dance around the village and must jump on a raised mound to demonstrate their ability to maintain balance. It is believed to be a bad omen for the town (sometimes leading to misfortune) if the mask should fall of the performer’s head during the jump.

When not in use, the masks are kept in shrines where villagers can pray to and provide offerings to ancestors.

The object Helmet mask “epa” or “elofon”, mother and child with the object ID 3044950 was part of the auction 90.I Tribal Art and 90.II Contemporary Native American Art on November 17, 2018. The object with the lot number 201 achieved a sales price of EUR 3,400 with an asking price of EUR 2,500.

You can find more Masks and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.