Royal Cap (Orikogbofo)
Yoruba (Nigeria; Coastal West Africa)
20th century
- Medium
- Glass, cloth, and string
- Classification
- Costume and Accessories
- Dimensions
- 19.7 × 19.7 × 22.3 cm (7 3/4 × 7 3/4 × 8 3/4 in.)
- Culture
- Nigeria
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
- Credit line
- Gift of Donald Young and Shirley Weese Young
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Brilliantly colorful, Yoruba crowns and hats feature strands of tiny glass beads sewn on a cloth base. These glass beads normally distinguish worshippers of different orisa, or deities: white beads are worn by Obatala worshipers, black and red by Esu worshipers, red and white by Sango, green by Ifa, and so on. The presence of a full spectrum of colors on royal crowns thus visibly demonstrates that in the person of the Oba, or king, all religious groups are united. The makers of orikobofo are liberated from rigid conventions and are able to explore new designs, color combinations, and forms.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
