Crown

Object Details

Yoruba artist

Label Text

A beaded cone-shaped crown with a long fringe of beads that covers the wearer's face is the most important symbol of Yoruba kingship. Beaded crowns signify that the king-wearer can trace his ancestry to Odudua, the mythical founder of the sixteen original Yoruba kingdoms.

This crown, formed by starched cotton placed over a basketry structure, is decorated with beaded faces, birds and geometric patterns. The faces represent local kings, past and present. The gathering of birds refers both to rituals that make the king semidivine and to the concealed forces that enable him to control and mediate the human and supernatural realms. Interlace patterns called salubata are associated with royalty or leadership. Their meaning is debatable, although the pattern may depict intertwining snakes, symbols of continuity. The veil protects the king's subjects from the supernatural powers radiating from his face.

According to the crown makers of Efon-Alaiye, the earliest crowns were decorated with beads of one color. No examples survive of the first crowns, made with blue segi (Aggrey beads). The next crowns were decorated with red coral beads, which the Portuguese introduced in the late 15th century. Such crowns are rare. Crowns are now decorated with brilliantly colored glass beads, which have been imported from Europe probably since the mid-17th century.

A Yoruba king might have several different beaded crowns and caps to wear for particular occasions. Like human beings, each ritual crown has its own oriki (chanted attributes or oral history).

Description

Conical beaded crown with netted bead veil, strands of beads and straps with beaded birds. The crown is decorated with two frontal faces, interlace panels and seperately constructed three-dimensional birds.

Provenance

Milton F. and Frieda Rosenthal, Westchester, New York, ca. 1989 to 1994

Exhibition History

Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 4, 2017-ongoing

African Beaded Art: Power and Adornment, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, February 1-June 15, 2008

Beaded Splendor, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June-October 9, 1994

Published References

Geary, Christraud and Andrea Nicolls. 1994. Beaded Splendor. Exhibition booklet. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, no. 11.

Lawal, Babatunde. 2012. Visions of Africa: Yoruba. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, pp. 116, 136, no. 50.

Kreamer, Christine Mullen. 2003. " A Tribute to Roy Sieber: Part 2." African Arts 36 (2), p. 24, no. 28.

Mellor, Stephen P. 2004. "The Exhibition and Conservation of African Objects: Considering the Nontangible." Art Tribal 7, p. 108, no. 2.

National Museum of African Art, 1987-1997: Celebrating 10 Years on the Mall. 1997. Museum brochure. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, no. 1994.

Pemberton III, John. 2008. African Beaded Art: Power and Adornment. Northampton: Smith College Museum of Art, pp. 56-57, no. 17.

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Credit Line

Gift of Milton F. and Frieda Rosenthal

ca. 1930

Object number

94-1-1

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Textile and Fiber Arts

Medium

Glass beads, plant fiber, cotton, iron

Dimensions

H x W: 76.2 x 33 cm (30 x 13 in.)

Geography

Ijebu region, Nigeria

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

Exhibition

Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts

On View

NMAfA, Second Level Gallery (2193)

Object Name

ade

National Museum of African Art

Topic

bird

Leadership

Ancestral

Male use

male

Record ID

nmafa_94-1-1

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys791e622ff-fa5c-4687-aa9f-d6f22b0eff5c