Crest mask in shape of a canoe
Wood
Collection of Laura and James J. Ross (cat. 75)
This canoe is called Oke-re-Erivwi, or Canoe-to-Heaven. It depicts a wealthy family: husband, wife and children, ornately dressed, and playing musical instruments. Their journey is a mystical one, across the waters to the "other world." It characterizes vividly the Urhobo notion of the passage from life in this world (Akpo) to life in the spirit world (Erivwi), an area said to exist "over the waters."
This example has a substructure that takes a shape suggesting it was carried in a masquerade dance, with concave base and supporting handles on the sides.
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