Skip to main content

Costume for the Egungun Masquerade

Artist Culture
Yoruba artist
Date
mid-20th century
Material
Cloth, wood, cowrie shells, glass and plastic beads, plant fiber, metal, stone, animal hide and hair, seed pods, gourd, bird beak, pigment, organic material, unidentified stuffing matter
associated with
Western Africa and the Guinea Coast, Nigeria, Africa
Classification
Costume & clothing, textiles
Current Location
Not on view
Dimensions
24 x 24 x 72 in. (61 x 61 x 182.9 cm)
Credit Line
Museum Shop Fund
Rights
Contact Us
Object Number
73:1990
NOTES
The fabrics that comprise this ensemble include a variety of printed trade cloths, and reflect different images and messages assembled into one composite form. This attire would have been used in a performance for the ancestors known as “powers concealed” ("egungun"), in which the performer was entirely covered. During the "egungun" masquerade, the performer would engage in fast, swirling motions, designed to send the layers of cloth spinning in a bright whirl of fabric. The masquerade’s origins appear to be tied to the cult of Shango, the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning. The royal court at Oyo, where the historical Shango reigned and which ruled most of Yorubaland in the 18th and early 19th centuries, may have supported this connection.