Crest Helmet

Artist Ejagham people, Ekoi subgroup

Place of OriginNigeria / Cameroon

Dateearly 20th century

Dimensions20 × 36 3/4 × 11 in. (50.8 × 93.3 × 27.9 cm)

Mediumwood, antelope (duiker) skin, palm fiber, bamboo, metal studs, kaolin, and pigment

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds given by Dorothy Mackenzie Price

Object number

2005.321

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 01

Label TextSkin-covered crest masks, made of fresh antelope hide stretched and shrunk over a carved wooden sculpture, were used by people of the Cross River delta region, near the city of Calabar in Nigeria, along the border with Cameroon. Traditional educational and political responsibilities were taught and enforced by societies of elders and associations of young men and women. Laced onto a wicker cap, crest helmets are danced at both festive and serious masquerades, such as initiations and funerals, by men concealed under a long gown from the top of the head to the ankles. Ejagham masks can have one, two, or occasionally three faces. These represent portraits of ancestors, both men and women. This headdress shows two heads, a man and a woman, back to back. The dark brown face represents a man; the yellow-brown face on the opposite side is a woman. Famous men were almost all heroic warriors, so the man is shown with aggressively bared teeth. The woman may represent his equally strong and supportive wife. The spiral "horns" are the braids of an elaborate woman's hairstyle that was actually worn during the coming-out festivities after a group of girls completed their seclusion for initiation and education. The dark marks at the temples represent tattoos cut into the skin. They are nsibidi symbols, part of the ancient writing system of the Ejagham that was taught by secret societies like the men's Ngbe and the women's Ekpa. The rectangles on the man's head signify high rank, while the concentric circles on the woman's head symbolize love.Published ReferencesArt Africain, Océanien et Précolumbien, Christie's, Paris,6 December 2005, lot 201.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 53, repr. (col.).

Eyo, Ekpo, From Shrines to Showcases: Masterpieces of Nigerian Art, Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Information and Communication, 2009, no. 157, p. 212, repr. (col.).

Exhibition HistoryToledo, Toledo Museum of Art, In Motion: Dance and Performance in Art, September 18, 2015- January 3, 2016.Comparative ReferencesSee also Ekpo Eyo, "Headdresses." In For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection. Ed. Susan Vogel. Exhib. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1981, 167, cat. 98.

See also Nicklin, Keith, "Headdresses." In For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection. Ed. Susan Vogel. Exhib. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1981, 168, cat. 99.

See also Selected Works from the Collection of The National Museum of African Art, vol. 1 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian, National Museum of African Art, 1999, 89, no. 60 (Ejagham crocodile mask with spiral horns).

See also Sieber, Roy and Frank Herreman. Exhib. cat., Hair in African Art and Culture, The Museum for African Art, New York. New York, London, and Munich: Prestel, 2000, 48, cat. 46 (Ejagham crest mask in the form of a woman's head with coiffure with curving "horns" of hair, Collection of Toby and Barry Hecht).

See also Petridis, Constantine, South of the Sahara: Selected Works of African Art. Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003, 88-89, no. 29 (Ejagham crest mask in the form of a woman's head with coiffure with curving "horns" of hair, 1990.23).