Headdress (Jagún Jagún)
Yoruba (Ekiti region, Nigeria; Coastal West Africa)
Mid– late 19th century
- Medium
- Wood, iron, nails, fiber, and sacrificial materials
- Classification
- Costume and Accessories
- Dimensions
- Figure and Shield: 110.5 × 38.1 × 43.2 cm (43 1/2 × 15 × 17 in.)
- Culture
- Nigeria
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
- Credit line
- The Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Richard Faletti, the Faletti Family Collection
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This imposing sculptural headdress would have been worn in masquerades honoring Ogun, the Yoruba god of iron, warfare, and technology. It was also part of a shrine where offerings of yams were applied to its surface. Ogun is depicted as a warrior on horseback who carries a shield with four human heads, possibly slain enemies. The smaller figure playing a flute represents Eshu, the divine messenger and god of human destiny.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
