Description
Large top mask elefon. Yoruba, Nigeria. H 89.5cm. In the shape of an abstractly conceived Janus head with an adorant kneeling above it, holding a lidded vessel in her right hand and a chicken in her left; she wears a comb-like hairstyle consisting of numerous small plaits arranged in parallel with numerous holes for attaching accessories; scarification marks on the cheeks, various layers of paint. What is striking about this type of Yoruba mask is the completely contrasting conception of the structure, which always follows the same canon: a consistently abstract Janus-headed mask as a base with grotesque-looking features, a wide mouth, strongly protruding eyes and a broad nose. The superstructure, which can represent an animal figure, an adorant - as here - a mother with child or an equestrian figure (jagunjagun), is largely naturalistic in conception. Such masks dance in the north-eastern part of Yorubaland, in Ekiti, during ritual ceremonies in honor of Elofon or Epa. In the northern part they are called epa, in the southern part of Ekiti they are called elefon. These are the same festivals that are also held in south-western Yorubaland, but with different masks and they are called gelede there. The dancers also honor the creative and potentially destructive powers of women, especially those of the older women, who are referred to as our mothers and identified with sorcery. The community of the female forces of the cosmos and their social parts, on which life in a Yoruba city depends, are also celebrated. The mask probably comes from Efon Alaaye, a medium-sized town in southern Ekiti with an important center of sculpture. The Adeshina family has excelled here, producing works of art for the needs of the Yoruba religion for generations. The mask on offer here is also carved in the best tradition of the Adeshina family. According to William Fagg, the carvers from this house achieved fantastic virtuosity in the first quarter of the 20th century. It is now customary to attribute particularly beautiful pieces of their production to Agbonbiofe, who died in 1945. In contrast to the Epa masks in Opin and Ila Orangun, the masks from Efon- Alaye are not supposed to be worn by dancers. This mask was then probably used as decoration in the courtyard of a palace and the lower Janus mask merely as a pedestal. This also explains the comparatively insignificant damage to the mask, despite its great age, which points to the first half of the 20th century. They are limited to flaws on the upper part of the crown, the same on the forehead in the front part of the Janus head and minor abrasions and flaking. A very similar mask (there as a mother figure) is illustrated in K.-F. Schaedler, Afrikanische Kunst - African Art (1976) p. 66. Traces of long use, otherwise intact. Provenance: Ex Coll. Mareidi and Gert Stoll, Munich / Berchtesgaden.
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Large top mask elefon. Yoruba, Nigeria. H 89.5cm. In the sha
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