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Oct 30, 2009

Headdress (Ẹpa)

c. 1925

Moshood Olusomo Bámigbóyè

(Nigerian, c. 1885–1975)

Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá peoples

Wood and paint

Overall: 134 x 57.9 x 62.5 cm (52 3/4 x 22 13/16 x 24 5/8 in.)

John L. Severance Fund and Gift of Mary Price 1991.165

Location

not on view

Did you know?

Performing this Ẹpa mask was an impressive feat of strength; it weighs nearly 45 pounds!

Description

Carved from a single block of wood, this stunning example of Bámigbóyè's complex style was carved when the artist was in his late twenties while living in Omu in his native Ilorin Province. Ẹpa masks were performed during an annual or biannual week-long festival. This mask appeared at the festival’s climactic conclusion. The elaborate superstructure revolves around the figure of a richly adorned ruler on horseback carrying a sword and wearing protective amulets on his arms. Three tiers of surrounding small-scale attendants—including messengers, musicians, warriors, and praise singers—represent a scene of court life in miniature, and testify to the warrior-king’s power and prestige.

Artist biography

Moshood Olusomo Bámigbóyè

Nigerian wood-carver. He carved traditional objects (houseposts, bowls, stools) as well as innovative ones (coffee tables, bread boards) in a relatively plain style. He also carved masks, among the finest being an Epa mask (London, BM) on which two women are surrounded by smaller male figures atop the mask superstructure. This piece adheres to Yoruba conventions in that the figures are idealized, static, stoically poised, emotionless and non-narrative, though they display the fullness of life. Large in size, symmetrical and conventionally proportioned, his pieces have relatively smooth surfaces. Wall plaques with narrative scenes, stools, knives, intricate patterning and details are among his more ‘modern’ works. He taught carving in Omu.

dele jegede in Grove Art Online
https://doi.org/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T096558

Provenance

Leon Underwood (also known as George Claude Leon Underwood)

By at least 1958

Vincent Price ¹

?–1991

Mary Grant Price

1991–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH by gift and partial purchase from R. M. Light and Co., Inc.

Provenance Footnotes

¹Reproduced in 1958 Fagg/Elisofon book The Sculpture of Africa as figure 144.

Citations

Green, James, et al. Bámigbóyè : A Master Sculptor of the Yorùbá Tradition. Yale University Art Gallery, 2022. p. 115-118

The Brooklyn Museum. Masterpieces of African Art. Brooklyn: The Brooklyn Institute of Arts & Sciences, 1954. P. 102

Robbins, Warren M. African Art in American Collections: L'art Africain Dans Les Collections Americaines. New York: F.A. Praeger, 1966 P. 164

Trowell, Margaret, Hans Nevermann, and Hans Nevermann. African and Oceanic Art. Panorama of World Art. New York: H.N. Abrams. 1968 Reproduced: p. 87

"Front Matter." African Arts 6, no. 1 (Autumn 1972): Reproduced: inner front cover. www-jstor-org.ingallslibrary.idm.oclc.org

Turner, Evan H. "Selected 1991 Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 2 (1992): 63-83. Mentioned: p. 65, 83; Reproduced: p. 75 www.jstor.org

Chemeche, George, and John Pemberton. The Horse Rider in African Art. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, 2011. Reproduced: p. 106

Lawal, Babatunde. Yoruba. Milan, Italy: 5 Continents, 2012. Reproduced: pl. 54

Heinrich, Will. "More Than 90 Art Shows and Exhibitions to See This Fall,"The New York Times, September 8, 2022. Reproduced. www.nytimes.com

Green, James. "Islamic Influence in the Work of Yorùbá Sculptor Bámigbóyè," ÌMỌ̀ DÁRA, October 16, 2022. Reproduced www.imodara.com

Elisofon, Eliot, and William Fagg. The Sculpture of Africa: 405 Photographs. London: Thames & Hudson, 1958. p. 114–115, fig. 144

Exhibition history

Masterpieces of African Art. The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (October 21, 1954-January 2, 1955).

African Master Carvers: Known and Famous. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-July 16, 2017).

Bámgbóyè: A Twentieth-Century Yorùbá Sculptor. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (organizer) (September 9, 2022-January 8, 2023).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Headdress (Ẹpa)|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1991.165|author=Moshood Olusomo Bámigbóyè|year=c. 1925|access-date=29 November 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Headdress (Ẹpa)

Headdress (Ẹpa)

Moshood Olusomo Bámigbóyè

Location

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Description

Moshood Olusomo Bámigbóyè

Provenance Footnotes

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