Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
Swirling into motion, <em>egúngún </em>masquerade costumes appear during annual festivities to bless the community. Manifesting ancestral spirits, they serve as a bridge between the living and the otherworld. The fabric panels create a dwelling place for ancestral spirits. Arranged and selected according to Yorùbá design sense (ojú-ọnà), this mask incorporates hundreds of African, Asian, and European fabrics. These include imported damasks, velvets, faux furs, and embroideries, as well as local indigo-dyed cottons.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
148747
label
Egúngún Masquerade Dance Costume
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
148747
contentType
object
title
Egúngún Masquerade Dance Costume
description
Swirling into motion, <em>egúngún </em>masquerade costumes appear during annual festivities to bless the community. Manifesting ancestral spirits, they serve as a bridge between the living and the otherworld. The fabric panels create a dwelling place for ancestral spirits. Arranged and selected according to Yorùbá design sense (ojú-ọnà), this mask incorporates hundreds of African, Asian, and European fabrics. These include imported damasks, velvets, faux furs, and embroideries, as well as local indigo-dyed cottons.
date
1900s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Mask
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 152.4 x 58.4 x 40.6 cm (60 x 23 x 16 in.)
cul
Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker
accession
1976.188
Source extras
tec
cotton, velvet, flannel, leather, dye, probably wood, cowrie shells, metal
tombstone
Egúngún Masquerade Dance Costume, 1900s. Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker. Cotton, velvet, flannel, leather, dye, probably wood, cowrie shells, metal; overall: 152.4 x 58.4 x 40.6 cm (60 x 23 x 16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Katherine C. White, 1976.188
collection
African Art
didYouKnow
This masquerade costume is made from both imported and locally made fabrics.
citations
1
citation
Aremu, P. S. O. "Between Myth and Reality: Yoruba Egungun Costumes as Commemorative Clothes." <em>Journal of Black Studies</em> 22, no. 1 (1991).
page_number
p. 6-14
url
www.jstor.org/stable/2784493
2
citation
Drewal, Margaret Thompson. Yoruba Ritual: Performers, Play, Agency. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992.
3
citation
Fitzgerald, Mary Ann, Henry J. Drewal, and Moyo Okediji. "Transformation through Cloth: An Egungun Costume of the Yoruba." <em>African Arts</em> 28, no. 2 (1995)
page_number
p. 55-57
creditline
Gift of Katherine C. White
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:38:26.300000
sourceId
148747
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
cotton, velvet, flannel, leather, dye, probably wood, cowrie shells, metal
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
2427ca227fa82fc6