Headdress

This headdress was made by stretching fresh, uncured antelope skin over a carved softwood base that was
then attached to a wickerwork skullcap. Elaborate sculptures constructed with these materials are a distinctive art form in the Cross River region in southeastern Nigeria and western Cameroon. This example evokes ideal feminine beauty and was most likely worn by an Ejagham woman in the context of a female association called Ekpa, which was responsible for educating girls to prepare them for marriage. The spiral forms of its complex, hornlike hairstyle and the painted facial markings refer to a secret writing system known as nsibidi.