Sold at auction on 16 July 1931 through Messrs Foster, The Galleries, Pall Mall, London, lot 160, to Harry Beasley. This object was previously in the collection of the Cranmore Ethnographical Museum established in 1928 by Harry Geoffrey Beasley and his wife Irene Marguerite Beasley. The Beasley collection was distributed following Harry Beasley’s death in 1939. This piece was part of the donation made by Irene Beasley to the British Museum in 1944.
Odudua helmet mask; lost-wax cast in brass. In form of human head with tapering projection from top of head. Three vertical scarification marks above each eyebrow. Serpents and long-nosed crocodiles crawling down the projection and on cap. Serpents and crocodiles on chin. Under chin and on right and left sides of neck are crosses. Bottom of mask pierced with holes.
This male Ododua helmet mask cast in brass possibly dates to the eighteenth century and used to be one of the characters of the Ododua masquerade at the Ague Osa ritual, as part of the New Yam festival (Ague), an agricultural rite marking the end of the year. According to tradition, the Ododua royal masquerades were introduced under Oba Oresonyen's reign (c.1735), as a subsidiary performance to the New Yam festival. The Ododua masquerade is said to honour Ododua, the progenitor of the Benin royal dynasty, and the royal ancestors. The Ododua masks have important political significance which is suggested by their predominant royal symbolism. This mask represents a mythic healer. The iconography of the mask, including the serpents and crocodiles, as well as the grimace of the face, refers to the close relationship between the cosmological order or disorder, the natural world and kingship. It reflects also the symbolic relation between identified animal species and the powers of the king. The mask integrates also important Yoruba references including the name 'Odudua' which refers to the earth deity of the Yoruba people and founder of the ancient Ife.
Exhibited: 1970-1973, London, Museum of Mankind, Divine Kingship in Africa 1991 Feb-Apr, Norwich, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Man and Metal in Ancient Nigeria