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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
148746
label
Egúngún Masquerade Dance Costume
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
148746
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: 167.6 x 66 x 40.6 cm (66 x 26 x 16 in.)
cul
Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker
accession
1976.187
Source extras
tec
cotton, velvet, flannel, dye, faux fur, leather, cowrie shells
tombstone
Egúngún Masquerade Dance Costume, 1900s. Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker. Cotton, velvet, flannel, dye, faux fur, leather, cowrie shells; overall: 167.6 x 66 x 40.6 cm (66 x 26 x 16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Katherine C. White, 1976.187
collection
African Art
didYouKnow
The striped netting on the "face" of this masquerade costume allows the wearer to see out while keeping their identity concealed.
citations
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.
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
url
doi:10.2307/3337226.
citation
Drewal, Margaret Thompson. Yoruba Ritual: Performers, Play, Agency. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992.
creditline
Gift of Katherine C. White
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:38:23.733000
sourceId
148746
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
cotton, velvet, flannel, dye, faux fur, leather, cowrie shells
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
71475e7cd187701d