Epa Helmet Mask: Mother of Twins
Artist: Attributed to Bamgbose (African, d. 1920)
Artist: or Areogun (African | Nigerian, ca. 1880 - 1954)
Artist: Yoruba people , Ekiti subgroup
Date: mid-19th to early 20th century
Dimensions:
H: 49 1/2 in. (125.7 cm); weight: 24 lbs. (10.9 kg)
Medium: wood with polychrome paint
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1977.22
Label Text:This monumental mask supports six small figures arranged around a mother of twins (iyabeji), reflecting the Yoruba saying, “It is she who holds within her womb the future promise of community.” Twins (ibeji) are highly symbolic to the Yoruba people, who have the highest twinning rate in the world. The sculpture celebrates both the ase (life-force) and ewa (beauty) that the gods have bestowed upon the woman depicted.
In the Ekiti region of northeast Nigeria, the annual festival of the Epa Society, at which such a mask would have been worn, commemorates the many roles a community’s ancestors served to make a stable and thriving town.
In the Ekiti region of northeast Nigeria, the annual festival of the Epa Society, at which such a mask would have been worn, commemorates the many roles a community’s ancestors served to make a stable and thriving town.
On view
In Collection(s)