Mask Knight Obatala
Yoruba · Nigeria
Reference: MFG-18
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- Height
- 98 cm
- Material
- Wood and polychrome.brown, white and red.
Personifies Obatala, an ancestor of the Yoruba Deified who also receives the name “Jagunjagun”. Represented by a hunter armed with fuse or spear. Obatala is one…
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Full original description
Personifies Obatala, an ancestor of the Yoruba Deified who also receives the name “Jagunjagun”. Represented by a hunter armed with fuse or spear. Obatala is one of the 16 secondary divinities commissioned by Olorun, god of Heaven, to create the world and to introduce life into it. It is a helmet mask of the Gelede cult. On a circular platform over the head of the Obatala mask holds his spear sitting on his horse, surrounded by four servants with offerings. Dominant brown polychrome, in various tones, alternating with white and some red dots on Obatala's ceremonial headdress.
Further technical information
- Attributed period
- Mid-century XX
Details transcribed from the original catalogue; they are not a recent physical inspection.
Country on the map
Nigeria. The country associated with the catalog is shown, not the current location of the piece.
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