Ceremonial Mask Cover
Date: not dated
Medium: cloth, gri-gri's, claws, horns, shells and metal
Dimensions:Overall: 20 x 8 x 3 1/2 in. (50.8 x 20.3 x 8.9 cm)
Classification: Costumes and Accessories
Credit Line: Gift of Alan Potamkin
Object number: 2012.2.9
DescriptionThe basic object here is a typical West African "mitre" style hat worn by men from Sierra Leone and Liberia through Mali and the Ivory Coast to as far eastward as Nigeria and Chad. The addition of charms transforms the hat into a ritual accessory used to cover and protect a mask when it is not being worn. Square, leather-covered packets know as gri-gri's are common West African Islamic charms.
