This Gelede mask has been vetted as authentic, made for tribal use.
There is a piece broken off on the bottom back, crudely nailed back on. ( See fifth image above.) A small tip of the snakes's tail is broken off and a piece or pieces are missing on the top left and right (see second photo above, with indents and nail holes).
Gelede, a male association, uses the aesthetic power of sculpture, costume, song and dance to placate and please women, who have special spiritual power. Often with elaborate superstructures, the headdresses appear as identical pairs in the dances.
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