Helmet mask "gelede" ·  Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3047787

Description

wood, kaolin, indigo blue pigment,

Gelede" masquerade are meant to honour the special spiritual powers of women (specifically elderly women “awon iya wa” and the great mother Yemoja, “iya nla”). The whole community should benefit from their life-giving forces, peace and harmony should be promoted.

“Gelede” festivals take place every year between march and may at the beginning of the new planting season. They have been described as real spectacles. The mask dancers wear headdresses of enormous variety of shapes and colourful costumes to celebrate the different roles of the villagers in society (market traders, blacksmiths, hunters, mothers, priestesses, etc…).

The object Helmet mask “gelede” with the object ID 3047787 was last part of the auction 96th Auction at April 24, 2021 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 239 achieved a sales price of EUR 200.

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