The Ejagham people created headpieces, including crest/helmet masks, by covering carved wooden forms with soft, untanned antelope skin. The skin was soaked in water to soften it before being stretched and tacked onto the wood, and then dried and stiffened. After the skin dried, it was stained with pigments made from leaves and bark.
Masquerades are
performed at funerals, initiations
of new members, and other
events sponsored by associations.
The crest mask does not cover the
head but rather sits on top of it.
These masks were worn with
elaborate flowing gowns. The
crest mask displays realistic
features by the skin sheathing.
Their smaller headpieces represent a head or an entire figure.
It is
presumed that all masks represented ancestors.
These masks are seen as fierce and frightening. The skin covering of a mask served as a magical agent to invoke ancestral spirits, thus eroding the barrier between living and dead participants in communal rituals.
Height: 7 ½" x Width: 5 ½" x Depth: 5 ½"