Gelede Mask Representing Osanyin, The Orisha of Herbal Medicines, Surrounded by Four Disciples
Unidentified possibly Egbado or Ketu maker
early 20th century
Wood, cotton and paint
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Museum Purchase
167.6.24038
Geography
Place Made: Benin, Western Africa, Africa
Period
20th century
Object Name
Ceremonial Artifact: Mask
Research Area
Africa
On view
Label
This mask would have been worn in a masquerade called Gelede which celebrates Yoruba women, especially elders, ancestors, and mothers. The four figures atop the mask are disciples of Osanyin, the orisha (deity) of herbal medicine.
From the 2023 exhibition Homecoming: Domesticity and Kinship in Global African Art, curated by Alexandra Thomas, Curatorial Research Associate
Course History
ANTH 3, Intro to Cultural Anthropology, Sienna Craig, Winter 2019
Exhibition History
Faces of Culture: Masks from the Permanent Collection of the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 1, 1991-November 1, 1993.
Homecoming: Domesticity and Kinship in Global African Art, Harteveldt Family Gallery, Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, and Northeast Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 22, 2023–May 25, 2024.
Provenance
Purchased by Professor James W. Fernandez in Benin (Dahomey) for Dartmouth College Museum, 1967.
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