Helmet mask "gelede"

Description

wood, painted in bright colours (with an azure facial plane), round “well-fed” facial features, crowned by two chicken, slightly dam., cracks, minor missing parts, rep. (legs of one of the birds and waist of the other);
“gelede” is a cult in the southwestern Yorubaland which implores the fertility of the earth and the well-being of men. Annual celebrations are marked by elaborate dance performances, at which male and female mask figures appear, while both are exclusively danced by men who wear rich textile costumes complete with wooden breasts.