A FINE AND LARGE YORUBA HEADDRESS, for the Epa masquerade, the helmet mask with large pierced eyes, surmounted by a platform on which stands an equestrian figure surrounded by five smaller figures, the rider holding the reins and a phallic object in one hand, a spear in the other, a pierced panel in front and behind him joined to the wide brim of his hat, the smaller figures carved as a female holding an implement, a drummer, a flute player, a man holding a rifle and a bound prisoner, the whole painted red, green and white, some repairs, cracks and damages, a native rivetted repair to the helmet mask, from the Opin region of northern Ekiti

Details

A FINE AND LARGE YORUBA HEADDRESS, for the Epa masquerade, the helmet mask with large pierced eyes, surmounted by a platform on which stands an equestrian figure surrounded by five smaller figures, the rider holding the reins and a phallic object in one hand, a spear in the other, a pierced panel in front and behind him joined to the wide brim of his hat, the smaller figures carved as a female holding an implement, a drummer, a flute player, a man holding a rifle and a bound prisoner, the whole painted red, green and white, some repairs, cracks and damages, a native rivetted repair to the helmet mask, from the Opin region of northern Ekiti
1m.08cm. high

Lot Essay

A very similarly-decorated Epa headdress in the Detroit Institute of Arts is attributed to Bamgboye (Fagg et al., 1982, Pl. 68), but in the opinion of John Picton (to whom we are indebted for many of the attributions to Yoruba carvers in this catalogue) the present carving is more likely to be from the hand of a master from the Opin region

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