# Egúngún Masquerade Dance Costume

- Date: 1900s
- Medium: cotton, velvet, flannel, leather, dye, probably wood, cowrie shells, metal
- Classification: Mask
- Dimensions: Overall: 152.4 x 58.4 x 40.6 cm (60 x 23 x 16 in.)
- Culture: Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker
- Credit line: Gift of Katherine C. White
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1976.188)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1976.188/1976.188_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Swirling into motion, egúngún 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.