Gelede Mask
1 of 4
Object Label
Gelede masks, such as this one, are worn by male Yoruba dancers at festivals honoring the women of the community, living and dead, especially the powerful Great Mothers, including both the elderly women of the community and the ancestors of Yoruba society. The gelede performances entertain and educate, and document elements of everyday life, such as the woman’s head tie in this example. Through their movements, gelede dancers express Yoruba ideals of male and female behavior.
Caption
Yorùbá. Gelede Mask, late 19th or early 20th century. Wood, pigment, 11 3/4 x 9 1/4 x 12 in. (29.8 x 23.5 x 30.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.227. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 22.227_PS2.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Gelede Mask
Date
late 19th or early 20th century
Geography
Place made: Nigeria
Medium
Wood, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
11 3/4 x 9 1/4 x 12 in. (29.8 x 23.5 x 30.5 cm)
Credit Line
Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund
Accession Number
22.227
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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