Headdress Item Number: 3041/1 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Filá headdress. Gourd headpiece, with hanging raffia cover. The half gourd is decorated with lace around its rim and across to the top centre where it wraps around a protruding lip. On the body between the strips of lace are woven circles of raffia beneath flower shaped arrangements of cowrie shells and plastic beads. Out the top protrusion emerges a stiff tuft of raffia held together by a wrap of grey plastic twine. From the lower rim of the gourd hang thick, metre long strands of raffia, entirely encircling the headdress so that the fringe hangs down evenly over the wearer’s front and back.
History Of Use
The filá of Omulu Obaluayê is the most distinctive element of this costume (includes 3041/2-3). The costume depicts Omulu Obaluaiê, “King and Lord of the Earth,” one of the core orixá of the Afro-Brazilian religions of Candomblé and Umbanda. Omulu is the son of Nanã and Oxalá (the husband of lemanjá that Nanã seduced). Abandoned by his mother he was saved by Iemanjá and healed by his father Oxalá. He became a wanderer and is an earthly entity, related to death and diseases.
Cultural Context
religious; ceremonial
Narrative
Top of the Omulu's costume. This item is part of a set acquired from the O Mundo dos Orixás shop, Madureira Market, in Rio de Janeiro.
Item History
- Made in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil during 2013
- Collected by Nuno Porto during November 2013
- Owned by Mundo dos Orixas before November 22, 2013
- Received from Mundo dos Orixas (Seller) and Museum of Anthropology Acquisitions Budget (Funding source) on November 22, 2013
What
- Name
- Headdress
- Identification Number
- 3041/1
- Type of Item
- headdress
- Material
- calabash fruit, palm leaf, fibre, cowrie shell, adhesive and plastic
- Overall
- height 35.0 cm, width 35.0 cm, depth 134.0 cm
Who
- Culture
- Brazilian
- Field Collector
- Nuno Porto
- Previous Owner
- Mundo dos Orixas
- Received from
- Mundo dos Orixas (Seller) and Museum of Anthropology Acquisitions Budget (Funding source)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
When
- Creation Date
- during 2013
- Collection Date
- during November 2013
- Ownership Date
- before November 22, 2013
- Acquisition Date
- on November 22, 2013
Other
- Condition
- good
- Accession Number
- 3041/0001