Context (Related Documents)
See E 1910.118 and E 1913.3 records for further details about the Thomas Collection from Nigeria.
Event Date 7/5/2001
Author: Remke Velden

Description (Physical description)
Masquerade costume made out of raffia and cloth. There is a basketry conic helmet covered with cloth and half parts of nut shells. The top of the hat has a rusty can. The colours are green and brown.
Event Date 15/3/2005
Author: Remke Velden

Context (Acquisition Details)
Collected by Northcote W. Thomas in Edo State, Agenibode (now Agene(g)bode) town. The inhabitants belong to the Edo ethnic group, and also identify themselves further as Yekhee people. The language they speak is referred to as Etsako. See Blench, R. M., 1995. The Work of N.W. Thomas as Government Anthropologist in Nigeria. The Nigerian Field, 60, pp.29.
Purchased using money from Prof. A.A. Bevan’s subscription to the Museum’s Accessions Fund.
Event Date 12/2/2013
Author: Remke Velden

Description (Physical description)
Headdress and body covering for masquerade. The object consists of two sections; a headdress and a body covering that would run down to the wearer’s knees. The two pieces are attached to each other. The headgear is conical in shape and 23 cm in diameter. It is topped by a tin can of 6 cm in diameter. The headdress is made of woven basketwork and covered in woven cloth onto which cut pieces of a hard nut have been sown. The nuts have been covered in a white chalk-like material. Strips of cloth are tied to the tin can and held down with a rope. The cloth is of an important type, decorated in maroon and faded yellow patterns, possibly Indian Madras cloth. The body covering attached to the headdress consists of hand woven cloth, which runs down the entire length of the piece. Raffia has been sown onto the cloth, covering most of the surface. It has been died green, blue, purple and yellow, colours which have now faded. The cloth has been woven in a traditional fashion with blue and beige patches throughout. This is also typical of woven cloth from Yoruba Land. The dress has been sown together on all sides except at the bottom, suggesting the wearer would have to put it on over the head. In the past the dress would have been attached all around the headdress, currently it remains attached only in a few places. Information provided by Dr Ohioma Pogoson, Honorary Curator of the Museum of the Institute for African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. January 2013.

Event Date 12/2/2013
Author: Remke Velden

Conservation (Repack)
CON.2015.1611 | Repack
Event Date 17/6/2015
Author: Remke Velden

Description (Physical description)
Headdress and body covering for masquerade. The headdress is made from a conical piece of woven basketry covered in cloth, and topped with a tin can. Attached to the outside are strings of nutshell covered in a white chalky substance. Attached to the bottom of the headdress is a long piece of cloth, possibly Indian Madras cloth, tunic. Attached to the cloth are tiers of long cascading plant fibre in natural, purple and green patches.
Event Date 26/9/2022
Author: Louise Puckett