Egúngún Masquerade Ensemble
Artist
Yorùbá artists
Date20th century
MediumCloth, wood, coins, cowrie shells, claw, and yarn
Dimensions64 x 35 x 30 in. (162.6 x 88.9 x 76.2 cm)
ClassificationsTextiles
Credit LinePurchased with funds provided through a bequest from Lucile E. Moorman
Object number97.5.2
On View
Not on viewThese costumes are built up over time. Each year patrons purchase the most luxurious and expensive cloth to enhance the value of the mask and the prestige of its associated family. Sometimes the cloth is locally produced, while other times it is imported. Such expensive imported fabrics, like the gold brocade, proclaimed the family's devotion to its ancestors. The tailor who was commissioned to construct it, likely by a Yorùbá family, had a special gift for effectively combining colors, patterns, and textures.
ProvenanceAcquired by Eric Robertson 1982/83 from a collector in Cotonou, Republic of Benin; sold to NCMA 1997.Published ReferencesHenry John Drewal and John Pemberton III, Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought (exhibition catalogue) (New York: The Center for African Art, in association with Harry N. Abrams, 1989), illus. (color) 185, fig. 216.
Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, The Center for African Art, "Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought," 1989; then scheduled to travel to Chicago, IL, The Art Institute of Chicago; Washington, DC, The National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution; Cleveland, OH, The Cleveland Museum of Art; New Orleans, LA, The New Orleans Museum of Art; Atlanta, GA, High Museum of Art, cat. illus. (color) 185, fig. 216.
Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection Reimagined," October 23, 2023-December 2, 2024.
Object Rights Statement
The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) makes images of its collection available online to support research and scholarship and to inform and educate the public. Certain works of art, as well as the photographs of those works of art, may be protected by copyright, trademark, or related interests not owned by the NCMA. The responsibility for ascertaining whether any such rights exist and for obtaining all other necessary permissions remains with the applicant. To request images and/or permissions from the NCMA, please complete our online request form.
