Epa Panther Mask

The courage and heroic deeds are symbolized in man by the leopard, hence the numerous ethnic groups that have secret male leopard societies and that this animal has become an animal of the court and symbol of the king's power and emblem, is the case of the Yoruba, of the Bini, of the Ejaghan and of so many other peoples. The leopard is present in many representations of Benin. The leopard mask is the first to appear on the exits of the masks Whoa. The secret society eppa It is a mask of justice. Their masks are generally impressive and in many of them there is an allusion to the leopard. They practice a cult of the civilizing heroes in which the masks appear, they also manifest in the annual ceremonies aimed at promoting the good of the community and the fertility of the fields. It is a very hierarchical but united society. This society is in the areas occupied by the Ekiti, Yorubas of the northwest.

This mask that retains a dense patina produced by the libations belongs to a secret panther society. The panther is very present in all Yoruba societies, since the three vertical and parallel scarifications of the face of the masks and of the marory of the Yoruba figures reproduce the stride of his totemic ancestor the Agazu panther and is also a sign of beauty on the face of women, at the same time as an allusion to its erogenous zone.