YORUBA STYLE HEAD 14, Nigeria

This unusual head takes the form of a helmet mask.

This Yoruba head shows no evidence of age or use and was probably made to be sold.

The word Egungun refers to masking associated with honored male lineage ancestors. While each mask has a personal name, it does not usually refer to a specific ancestor. Rather, Egungun masks embody the "collective force of the ancestors. All of the Egungun in a community appear annually during a joyful festival that celebrates the distinguished dead. During the festival, the ancestors bless the living, promote physical and spiritual health, settle disputes, enforce tradition and morality, and cleanse the community of witchcraft.

--from African Shapes of the Sacred: Yoruba Religious Art by Carol Ann Lorenz, Senior Curator, Longyear Museum of Anthropology, Colgate University.