Gelede Mask Representing Osanyin, The Orisha of Herbal Medicines, Surrounded by Four Disciples

Unidentified possibly Egbado or Ketu maker

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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

First Year Student Enrichment Program – Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Colleen Lannon, Summer 2023

First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Mokhtar Bouba, Summer 2023

Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023

Writing 2.05, Why Write, Anyway?, Erkki Mackey, Fall 2023

Writing 5.24, Photographic Representations, Amanda Wetsel, Fall 2023

Writing 5.25, Photographic Representations, Amanda Wetsel, Fall 2023

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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