H x W x D: 19.8 x 20.6 x 31.3 cm (7 13/16 x 8 1/8 x 12 5/16 in.)
Type:
Mask
Geography:
Nigeria
Benin
Date:
Early - mid 20th century
Label Text:
Gelede is a masquerade to honor and placate the "mothers," incarnate forces of thwarted fertility and spiritual power who are less diplomatically referred to as witches. Although men, appearing in pairs, dance these masks, many gelede masks depict women. Some are satiric or genre characters. Others have elaborate superstructures with figures of devotees, animals, exaggerated head ties (a woman's head covering) or even palm trees. This mask has a coiled python on top. The python has associations with water spirits and divinities and with wealth. The snake can also exemplify patience since it waits for its prey and it is alert even when it appears to be asleep. It is an emblem of transformation, shedding its skin and going from earth burrows to trees to water. Since its bite is normally in response to aggression, it is compared to the just response to witchcraft.
Gelede masks are worn like caps and tilted at a 45-degree angle on the forehead. The sculptor takes this angle into account when carving the mask. Typically gelede masks are polychromed.
Description:
Wood cap mask topped by coiled python. Dark patina to face and blue and white pigment on python.
Provenance:
Saul Bellow, Chicago,(gift of funds) 1969
Rt. Rev. Msgr. James A. Magner, Washington, D.C. -1968
Exhibition History:
Artful Animals, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., July 1, 2009-July 25, 2010
Published References:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Art Gallery. 1970. African Art. Amherst: University of Massachusetts, p. 32, no. 83.
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