Helmet Mask (Gelede)

This mask was used among the Southwestern Yoruba during festivals that attempted to appease the Mother Goddess Iyala, considered in some contexts to be the mother of all other Yoruba deities, and at the same time to honor and placate the feminine principal.

In Yoruba thought, women, particularly older women, wield tremendous power that can be used positively for the benefit of all of society, or if subverted, even unconsciously, can be the root of witchcraft.

Gelede dances and feasts, held over a period of several days, honor the great mother and the Mothers of society. Masks of the Gelede society range from simple to extremely complex and are usually danced in pairs by male dancers. A costume further added breasts and an often-pregnant belly, along with skirts that move in a sinuous manner when the dancer shakes his hips.

This mask is interesting and remarkable in many ways. The superstructure is extremely complex and must have been very difficult to carve and to maintain without damaging it. Further, the iconography is very complex. Usually one finds simple iconographic elements; a bird, a simple hat, or a burden basket, but here a menagerie of animals and other imagery is depicted.

One may speculate that the birds atop the mask represent spirit intermediaries; the serpents may be related to the cosmic serpent that becomes the rainbow, or may simply represent the watery realm of earth, in contrast to the skies that the birds relate to. The carved knives at the sides of the mask and bells next to them may reference hunters.

It is not really possible to know exactly why this particular iconography was chosen for this mask, however, it clearly illustrates that the carver was not only excellent in his medium but understood the canonical iconography and manipulated and juxtaposed it as needed by his patron to a degree not often encountered.