Exceptional, probably unique top mask egungun. Yoruba, Nigeria. H 35cm. In the shape of a head with a short neck, resting on a tapered base with numerous holes for attachment. The elaborate crested coiffure, designed at right angles to the head, has two medicine containers attached to the back; the head itself with a downcast gaze, large ears and scarification marks on the cheeks. The artistic design of the head is completely unusual and is more reminiscent of classical modernist sculptures than Yoruba works. Egungun is an important ancestor cult, which is used in both legal rulings and burial ceremonies, whereby the sculptures of the headdresses are zoomorphic (legal rulings) or anthropomorphic (burial). The ceremonies are accompanied by a combination of poetry, music and dance and celebrate the presence and power of the ancestors. Grey-black, partially encrusted patina, abrasions from prolonged use, otherwise intact. Provenance: Ex Coll. Mareidi Singer-Stoll.