MULTI BIRD COVERED YORUBA BEADED CROWN/VEIL

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MULTI BIRD COVERED YORUBA BEADED CROWN/VEIL

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Sold Date: 04/29/2007
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art

Y OR UB A
BE AD ED C RO WN
The word Yoruba describes both the language and the tribe. The Yoruba live in the south western Nigeria and neighbouring Benin Republic. (Benin was formally Dahomey). The people who speak Yoruba had 25 kingdoms in the past. (City-States). These kingdoms were all separate entities but worked together. Ife-Ife was founded around 1850 AD. The great kingdom of Oyo based in the city of Oyo was founded around 1350 and was still in existence in 1850. Major kingdoms of the Yoruba are, Oyo, Ife, Ijesha, Ekiti, Shabe, Ketu, Owo, Ondo, Itsekiri, Ijebu, Ejbado and Awori.
17 " TALL
Condition : EXCELLENT
BEADS , CLOTH.
Lined with hand woven asoko oke fabric. Yoruba beaded king's great crown-ADENLA- The right to wear crowns is limited to approximately fifty Yoruba kings. Theoretically, only direct descendents of one of the sixteen children of the god ORISHA, first king of the Yoruba people, can wear them. ORISHA blessed mankind with the use of beads, and their use is restricted to those whose spiritual powers enable them to move across the boundary that separates men from gods, the secular from the sacred. The crown itself is worshipped. It is placed upon the king's head from behind, usually by athe senior wife, because he may not look upon the bird which goes on the top, which holds powerful medicines to protect him and his destiny. The veil is to keep viewers from seeing the king's face, masking his individuality, and also focusing attention on the real focus of power, the crown. The birds on the side symbolize the fact that the king rules "only with the suppoirt of the mothers." Crowns limited to those who could trace their heritage to Odudua, first knig of Yoruba(at Ife). Crowns are called orisha (diety) and is the object of care and veneration by a woman at court. The veil focuses the viewer's attention to the crown and to venerate the king's head. Orisha is the generic name for a diety and not a king. It was either of the orishas Olokun (god of the sea) or Obalufon that gave humans the gift of beads. Bead usage limitd to kings, priests and priestesses and certain diviners.
See Fagg's YORUBA BEADWORK.
"In almost all instances of Yoruba ritual art, birds are references to the mystical power of women, known affectionally as 'awon iya wa' (our mothers'), or abusively as 'aje' ('witches'). As t are positive and negative valences to the mystical powers of women (and gods, spirits and ancestors), so too the substances guarded by the bird-mothers can either protect or destroy the person who wears the crown. Given the central role played by women in controlling, placing, protecting, and sacrificing to the crown, the birds signify that the king himself rules only with the support and cooperation of 'awon iya wa.' According the the Orangun-Ila: 'Without the mothers I could not rule. I could not have power over witchcraft in the town. "Yoruba; Nine Centuries of African Art and
Thought," by Henry John Drewal and John Pemberton II
Thanks to eliza500 and Sara for the write up.

Beaded and veiled crowns, ade ileke , are traditionally worn by those kings who could trace their ancestry to Ododua, the mythic founder and first king of the Yoruba people. The crown is called an orisha , a deity, and is placed upon the king's head by his female attendant. Powerful medicines are placed at the top of the crown to protect the king's head and thus his future. The veil that covers the king's face hides his individuality and increases attention on the crown itself, the real centre of power.
The birds decorating the crown represent the royal bird, okin .

Among the Yoruba, beads are associated not only with royalty, but also with priesthood. Beaded caps, pouches, fly whisks and staffs form part of the priest's outfit during ceremonies. Beaded satchels, laba shango , feature in the shrines of the god of thunder, Shango, and are worn in the Egungun and Gelede masquerades.

Buyer pays $ 26.00 Shipping, USA.
$ 42.00 INTERNATIONAL
VALUE $ $550.00...