Headdress Item Number: 2736/6 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Headdress consisting of flat, horn-shaped curved wood head piece with long strands of dried grass hanging down in two thick bunches from grass pompoms. The plank wood headpiece, with leather and cloth head straps attached, is painted white with red dots on both sides and, on the front, has two leaping sharks facing each other and the dates 2000 and 2005.
History Of Use
Bijogo society is stratified into seven age grades, at least four of which are associated with specific masquerades. These crested head pieces, sometimes including the head of a long-horned bush cow or the snout of a hammer-head shark in their centre, are worn by young boys in the first and second age grades, gn’opara. Only by completing the full cycle of initiation are deceased adults able to avoid becoming wandering spirits and unify themselves with the creator deity, Nindut.
Item History
- Made in Bissagos Islands, Guinea-Bissau
- Owned by Art Africa before April 20, 2009
- Received from Art Africa (Seller) and U.B.C. Office of the Provost (Funding source) on April 20, 2009
What
- Name
- Headdress
- Identification Number
- 2736/6
- Type of Item
- headdress
- Material
- wood, paint, leather skin, cotton fibre and grass
- Overall
- height 85.0 cm, width 67.0 cm, depth 16.0 cm
Who
- Culture
- Bijogo
- Previous Owner
- Art Africa
- Received from
- Art Africa (Seller) and U.B.C. Office of the Provost (Funding source)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- Bissagos Islands, Guinea-Bissau
When
- Ownership Date
- before April 20, 2009
- Acquisition Date
- on April 20, 2009
Other
- Condition
- good
- Accession Number
- 2736/0006