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Lot 68
Ejagham Headdress, Cross River Region, Nigeria
21 November – 5 December 2024, 12:00 PST
Online, Los AngelesSold for US$12,160 inc. premium
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Ejagham Headdress, Cross River Region, Nigeria
Wood, goat hide and fur, vegetable fiber, cloth
Height 10 1/4in (26cm)
Provenance
Marcia and Irwin Hersey (1920-2010) Collection, New York (Inv. no. "SO44" in white ink on underside)
Sotheby's, New York, 8 May 1989, lot 171A
American Private Collection
Literature
Robbins, Warren M., and Nancy Ingram Nooter, African Art in American Collections, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. and London, 1989, p. 287, no. 745
A finely woven circular basketry cap around base, the carved wood head encased in animal skin, with naturalistic, engaging features with deeply set, squinting eyes, naturalistic nose and open mouth revealing two rows of wooden plugs inset as teeth; wearing a hide coiffure.
The sublime, naturalistic realism found is this headdress is revealed by Elsy Leuzinger in her discussion on Ekoi artwork: "The rise of their emphatically realistic style has been attributed to the former practice of head hunting. The victors tied the heads of their victims on to their own heads and danced with them in an ecstasy of victory. The blood of the enemy was thought to bring fertility to the fields, which is a widespread belief in lands with a matriarchal social organization. The wooden heads, mostly covered with skin, probably served as a substitute for the real heads and were therefore carved as realistically as possible, not only with naturalistic living features, but also with inset iron teeth, inlaid eyes, real hair, etc. As late as the end of the last century the skin of slaves and prisoners of war is said to have been used to cover them, while later the skin of antelopes and goats had to suffice. Eyebrows and lips were emphasized with black colouring, and the rank of the possessor was shown by markings, because the prestige of a person in the secret society played a very great role. The heads were mounted on basketwork caps, so that the dancers could wear them on their heads." (Leuzinger, Elsy, The Art of Black Africa, New York Graphic Society, Greenwich, CT, 1972, p. 225-26)
Height 10 1/4in (26cm)
Provenance
Marcia and Irwin Hersey (1920-2010) Collection, New York (Inv. no. "SO44" in white ink on underside)
Sotheby's, New York, 8 May 1989, lot 171A
American Private Collection
Literature
Robbins, Warren M., and Nancy Ingram Nooter, African Art in American Collections, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. and London, 1989, p. 287, no. 745
A finely woven circular basketry cap around base, the carved wood head encased in animal skin, with naturalistic, engaging features with deeply set, squinting eyes, naturalistic nose and open mouth revealing two rows of wooden plugs inset as teeth; wearing a hide coiffure.
The sublime, naturalistic realism found is this headdress is revealed by Elsy Leuzinger in her discussion on Ekoi artwork: "The rise of their emphatically realistic style has been attributed to the former practice of head hunting. The victors tied the heads of their victims on to their own heads and danced with them in an ecstasy of victory. The blood of the enemy was thought to bring fertility to the fields, which is a widespread belief in lands with a matriarchal social organization. The wooden heads, mostly covered with skin, probably served as a substitute for the real heads and were therefore carved as realistically as possible, not only with naturalistic living features, but also with inset iron teeth, inlaid eyes, real hair, etc. As late as the end of the last century the skin of slaves and prisoners of war is said to have been used to cover them, while later the skin of antelopes and goats had to suffice. Eyebrows and lips were emphasized with black colouring, and the rank of the possessor was shown by markings, because the prestige of a person in the secret society played a very great role. The heads were mounted on basketwork caps, so that the dancers could wear them on their heads." (Leuzinger, Elsy, The Art of Black Africa, New York Graphic Society, Greenwich, CT, 1972, p. 225-26)
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