Cleveland Museum of Art

Headdress

Date

early 1900s

Medium

Wood, human hair, paint, and possibly kaolin

Culture

Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Idoma-style carver

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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. Holes in the neck once attached a flat raffia disk or strings for wearing the headdress-type mask on top of the head.

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