YORUBA antique beaded crown.. West Nigeria or Benin

Home > Worthopedia – Price Guide > Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art >

Terms and Conditions for using our site

YORUBA antique beaded crown.. West Nigeria or Benin

Sold For:

or Sign In to see What it's worth.

Sold Date: 04/16/2007
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art

Beautiful seed beaded Yoyaba kings crown or 'orikogbofo' meaning 'head can suffer no loss'. I'm not sure of the age but probably early 1900's. I bought it from a large American collection over 25 years ago. It is a four sided crowm measuring 7 1/2 in diameter and is 10 inches tall. This would have been the kings day to day headgear....such projections from the head enabled the wearer to mediate in human and supernatural realms.T are 12 birss....fthree mounted on each facet of the crown...the number of birds may indicate the rank of the ruler or may reflect the political structure..ie. number of wards..of the town."Always created by professional bead-embroiderers,crowns are portable alters of royal authority, symbolic statements on the nature and origin of regal power" African Beadwork...Traditional Symbols...Tambaran Gallery..NYC . the beadwork on this crown is in excellent..near perfect condition....I have added a couple of pics. ot the inside of the crown..it is lined with a course cotton and under that is a hesian type of cloth ..the frame is made of rattan or similar....T is brass circle used to hold the shape...this was obviously added later to help display/I will ship worldwide....shipping costs will vary by location and method used etc.