Work of Art

Egungun Masquerade Costume

Created

20th century

Artist

Nationality

Benin (Yoruba and Ouidah)

Birth/Death

20th century-

Dimensions

Height: approximately 60 inches (152.4 centimeters)

Medium

Cloth; wood; beads; coins; cowrie shells; and sequins, Textile

Credit

Purchased with funds provided through a bequest from Lucile E. Moorman

Object Number

97.5.1

Culture

Classification

Textiles

Department

African

Key Ideas

This masquerade costume consists of decorative cloth and a mesh face screen. The person who wore this full-body costume would have transformed into a “returned Yorùbá ancestor” who connected the living world with the spiritual world.
The word egúngún means “powers concealed.” It refers to the masquerade itself and to the ancestors’ supernatural powers.
Egúngún masquerades are performed at yearly festivals that honor the ancestors and seek blessings for the community.
The word “AYELABOLA” is embroidered on the back of this costume. This is a Yorùbá word that means “we found wealth on earth.” The Yorùbá peoples are a West African ethnic group who mainly live in parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo.

Learn More

Egúngún masquerades originated in Nigeria among the Yorùbá peoples. The Yorùbá make up the largest ethnic group in Africa. The egúngún masquerade ceremony is now honored and performed in Africa and throughout the world, from the Republic of Benin and Sierra Leone to parts of the Caribbean and the Americas. The Yorùbá honor their ancestors during this annual ceremony.

The artist who made this costume decorated its panels with designs from Yorùbá, Islamic, and European traditions. The dancer who wore it could see through the mesh face panel. The face panel is decorated with cowrie shells, beads, and coins. This person would have spun rapidly, making the fabric panels open to show the costume’s colorful layers. The layers of these costumes are built up over time. Patrons purchase luxurious, expensive cloth to be added to the costume. Sometimes the fabric is locally produced. Other times it is imported.

For the Yorùbá the costume represents the importance of the ancestor spirits. It is also a statement of status for the patron. The valuable fabrics and symbols of wealth that adorn the costume (cowrie shells, beads, and coins) show respect to the ancestors. The Yorùbá word AYELABOLA is embroidered on the back of the costume. In English the translation of this word is “we found wealth on earth.” The movements, gestures, and playful actions that would accompany an egúngún masquerade performance are missing from this costume in its current museum form.

tags: pattern, movement, animals, collaboration, ritual, part/whole, variation, family

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