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View at the museum ↗Royal Cap (Orikogbofo)
Yoruba20th century
- Attribution
- Yoruba Nigeria Coastal West Africa
- Medium
- Glass, cloth, and string
- Physical dimensions
- 16.5 × 20.3 × 21 cm (6 1/2 × 8 × 8 1/4 in.)
- Credit line
- Gift of Donald Young and Shirley Weese Young
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Source rights statement: Public domain
View the museum record ↗From the museum
Brilliantly colorful, Yoruba crowns and hats feature strands of tiny glass beads sewn on a cloth base. These glass beads normally distinguish worshippers of different orisa , or deities: white beads are worn by Obatala worshipers, black and red by Esu worshipers, red and white by Sango, green by Ifa, and so on. The presence of a full spectrum of colors on royal crowns thus visibly demonstrates that in the person of the Oba, or king, all religious groups are united. The makers of orikobofo are liberated from rigid conventions and are able to explore new designs, color combinations, and forms.
Description: Art Institute of Chicago · CC BY 4.0