SOLD This wonderful Yoruba royal multicolor beaded headdress (head Dress) or crown from the 1950’s is in great condition, very few of the very old beads are missing and the crown is solid with its original vivid colors. Five Figures, one of them riding a horse or mule, decorate the top of the piece, entirely made of antique beads, the King is shown on the horse accompanied by 4 male guardians, each holding a staff.
Considered direct media to the gods, Yoruban Kings were, in the past, enshrined in beads which represented their status as a spiritually and royal being.
The mounted rider is a common theme in Yoruba sculpture as well, especially from the Ikiti area in northeast Yoruba. Mounted warrior-hunters established a number of kingdoms during the 1700s where the horse was a symbol of rank, position, and authority. These figures wore long traditional beaded tunics entirely embroidered with beads, as this collector piece shows.
All around the base section which fits onto an altar, there are 2 human faces (these large faces represent Oduduwa the first ruler to wear a crown and the first OBA, but sometimes they may also represent royal ancestors who are said to watch over and protect all royal lines) and 2 salamanders, all in relief The inside of the base is hollow and lined with loosely handwoven fabric.
Many people refer to this type of altar item as a crown. In fact it was too large to be used as a crown and was placed on the main altar for divination purposes & voodoo practices.
The headdress is 28” tall with a 12” diameter.
Please view the photos carefully to be satisfied: This is a very old headdress in very good condition, especially for its age, as the photos show. Museum Quality.
We carry hand crafted metal display stands if one is needed.
Religious texts and legends tell that Yoruba gods chose beaded strands as their emblems which gave beads a great deal of significance. Yoruba crowns connote power by divine sanction. In fact, only a select few in Yoruba society are permitted to wear or use beaded objects, including kings, chiefs, princes, priests, diviners and native doctors.
These works of art, once traditionally created for royalty or altars by talented Yoruban artisans (tribes from Nigeria well known for their artistic abilities), were covered with thousands of multicolored antique beads and used during ceremonial events. Today, these sculptural tribal headdresses remain as testaments to the Yorubas’ imagination, talent and artistic prowess.
There are a variety of differing stories that speak to the history of the ade, or the Oba's crown. What most of these stories have in common is that they acknowledge the primacy of Ile-Ife as the first "crowned town" from which all Yoruba kings can trace their descent.
One of these ancient stories states that before he died, Oduduwa, the founder and first king of the Yoruba people, gave a beaded crown to each of his sons and sent them forth to establish their own kingdoms. Another story states that when Oduduwa was old and almost blind, his sons stole their father's ades and with the authority of the ade established their own kingdoms. This story parallels the breakup of the Oyo Empire into multiple, smaller kingdoms.
Since the mid-nineteenth century, the authority of the oba has been established through an identification with Oduduwa and Ile-Ife.
