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Headdress
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This was used in masked performances of the Agrinya society, a powerful guild formerly restricted to men who had killed an elephant, lion, or man. The white pigment connotes the realm of the ancestors, while the aggressive expression of the face seems to suggest the courage of Agrinya society members.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineHeaddress, early 1900s. Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Idoma-style carver. Wood, human hair, paint, and possibly kaolin; overall: 20.4 x 17.8 x 16.2 cm (8 1/16 x 7 x 6 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, James Albert and Mary Gardiner Ford Memorial Fund, 1964.444
