Headdress (Ekine Society)
Maker
Nigerian
Maker
Ijaw
Label TextIjaw fishermen are dependant on the meandering creeks, lagoons, and mangrove swamps of the Niger Delta. They negotiate this environment with quixotic water spirits who live in underwater communities and control the movement of fish and animals. Masquerades call on their help and attempt to control their unpredictable behavior with songs, dances and plays that encourage good will.
Object number81.17.530
Exhibition HistoryLos Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, May 5 - Sept. 22, 1974). Text by Robert Farris Thompson. No cat. no., p. 144, reproduced pl. 185 (as mask).
Los Angeles, California, The Fowler Museum at UCLA, Ways of The Rivers: Arts and Environment of the Niger Delta, May 18 - Nov. 17, 2002.
Published ReferencesMcClusky, Pamela. African Art: From Crocodiles to Convertibles in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1987; cat. no. 7, p. 15, reproduced (as Headdress for Ekine Society).Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
Dimensions6 7/8 x 7 1/2 x 38 3/8 in. (17.5 x 19.1 x 97.5 cm)
MediumWood, basketry, nails, pigment
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