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Royal Cap (Orikogbofo)

A work made of glass, cloth, and string.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of glass, cloth, and string.

Date:

20th century

Artist:

Yoruba
Nigeria
Coastal West Africa

About this artwork

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.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Africa

Culture

Yoruba

Title

Royal Cap (Orikogbofo)

Place

Nigeria (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1901–2000

Medium

Glass, cloth, and string

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

Reference Number

2015.303

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/229893/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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