1. Ritual Stand.
This terra-cotta stand for holding a sacrificial vessel reportedly was collected in 1912 near the confluence of the Benue and Niger Rivers.
Among the Yoruba, the dead are believed to influence the fortunes of their descendants. Egungun masqueraders honor the spirit of the ancestors.
This helmet mask is of substantial age and probably comes form the northwestern Yorubas.
3. Ritual figure. (not pictured)
This rare figure with elongated horns and Janus features represent an Ishan ancestral spirit. Its date of collection is reportedly 1912. Probable age is 100 years.
The staff with carved geometric design is crowned with a male figure in bent posture. Collected during 1912 expedition. Probable attribution is Ishan.
5. Mask with raffia and sacred cloth.
This horned mask of Igalla has considerable age and at least two layers of paint. It was used to increase success in hunting and was carved from a sacred tree, oli ina.
Ritual cloth between the horns tied human acts to the world of spirits and animals. The raffia shows signs of ritual use which increases its significance. Igalla masks are some of the rarest of the western African art.
This hardwood figure with unknown provenance is reminiscent of the Aphrodite of ancient cultures.
This is an iron work attributed to Yoruba and reportedly collected in 1917. It was used to suspend the sacrificial animals and magical substances on an altar.
This ritual vessel for pounding of yams is perhaps the most important example of its type in the United States. All of its sides are richly decorated in a high relief.
This vessel, which was reportedly collected in 1912-13, may be up to 50 years older than its collection date. Attribution is northern Yoruba.
This figure represents a human head. This traditional sculpture of the ancestor masquerade of probably from the Egbade or Abeokuta areas.
This hardwood figure is probably of Baule origin. The Baule are an emigrant group from the Ashanti area.
Baule figures seem to have their origin in ancestor portraits derived from the Ashanti who had a rich tradition of figurative sculpture in wood and terra-cotta.
