id: 148171 accession number: 1975.168.1 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1975.168.1 updated: 2023-01-11 04:01:11.631000 Mask, c. 1945–1950. Duga of Mẹkọ (Nigerian, Yorùbá peoples, 1880–1960). Wood and paint; overall: 77.7 cm (30 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Katherine C. White 1975.168.1 title: Mask title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1945–1950 creation date earliest: 1945 creation date latest: 1950 current location: 108A Sub-Saharan creditline: Gift of Katherine C. White copyright: --- culture: Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá peoples technique: Wood and paint department: African Art collection: African Art type: Mask find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Duga of Mẹkọ (Nigerian, Yorùbá peoples, 1880–1960) - artist --- measurements: Overall: 77.7 cm (30 9/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Arts of Africa: Gallery Rotation (African art rotation) opening date: 2021-12-10T05:00:00 Arts of Africa: Gallery Rotation (African art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 10, 2021-July 2, 2023). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * CMA 1976: "Year in Review 1975," Bulletin LXIII (February 1976), p. 65, no. 18.A
CMA 1986: Possessors of Power: African Masks and Sculpture, January 28-March 23, 1986; The Beachwood Museum, April 2-30, 1986. --- PROVENANCE Katherine C. White [1929-1980], Gates Mills, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 1975 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1975– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Duga received a kind of "scholarship" for his apprenticeship with a master carver in Ketu. The Gẹ̀lẹ̀dé society paid for his training in exchange for masks he later carved for them. digital description: wall description: Men in the Gẹ̀lẹ̀dé society performed paired masks like these during annual masquerades honoring Ìyá Nlá (Great Mother). The event demonstrates respect for motherhood and female power within a male-dominated society. These gẹ̀lẹ̀dé masks depict idealized “beautiful maidens” with crocodiles perched atop their head ties. Such dangerous reptiles were linked to witches and the thunder god; their jointed tails swung realistically during performance. Multiple paint layers show how these masks were repainted to keep them looking fresh. Masks like these gained Duga his reputation as Mẹkọ’s best sculptor and a noted early 20th-century Yorùbá artist. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES