gelede mask, unrecorded Yoruba artist

Archive label for Palmer collection exhibit, date unknown:
The Gelede Society of southwestern Nigeria and Dahomey was associated wtih mask and headdress forms that were complex in design and brightly colored in execution. The masks might have been worn either on the face or slanted upward onto the forehead, so that the dancer actually looked out under the mask. Dancers would perform in pairs, with several dozen pairs in action at one time.