Face mask of the "egungun" society ·  Nigeria, Yoruba (Oyo / Shaki Area) · ID: 3035843

Description

light weighted wood, greyish brown patina, the whole face painted with dark brown dots, nearly naturalistic pleasing facial features, slightly dam. (nose, mouth), missing parts backside at the rim, abrasion of paint, on base;
although “egungun” masks are almost universal in Yorubaland, only in this small area are they made to wear in front of the face, and it is strange that there seems to be no occurence of such masks even among the neighbours of the Yoruba, except for the Nupe town of Mokwa far to the east. Frobenius collected several of these northern Yoruba masks in 1910. Their continued use was verified in 1959 (according to Fagg, in: Christie’s 1976).