Skip Navigation

Funerary Headdress (Tugunga)

Arts of Africa

Becoming Controlled

Because masks take on nonhuman, otherworldly characteristics, they are particularly effective as mediators of power. Despite their capacity for freedom and play, masks can also express social limits, serving as agents of calm in moments of tension or anxiety, or as frightening policers of the community on behalf of those in power.

The Igbudu mask represents the evil forces that can threaten a community. One of the only examples of Yoruba sculptural art that is deliberately unattractive, it features a sharp brow, protruding eyes, and wide mouth—all designed to frighten.

The commanding Loma mask, Okobuzogui, is used by the Poro society, a secret men’s association that serves, among other roles, to initiate boys into adulthood. Poro mythology holds that Okobuzogui “swallows” the boys in his menacing jaws as they leave the village for the initiation camp; he also accompanies them upon their return as young men.

Tugunga headdresses are worn only by those who belong to a secret Bamum society of warriors, known as the Nsoro, who perform at the funerals of important members of the community. The masks impress with their size and grandeur and elicit fear and apprehension since they represent the society charged with adjudicating disputes and protecting the king.
CULTURES Bamum or Tikar
MEDIUM Wood, rattan, pigment
DATES late 19th century
DIMENSIONS 33 x 14 3/16 x 14 3/16 in. (83.8 x 36 x 36 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Arts of Africa
ACCESSION NUMBER 73.36
CREDIT LINE Gift of Mrs. Melville W. Hall
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Funerary headdress. The carved head of blackened wood, decorated by an ochre pigment decoration, rests on a wood neck-base. This base is covered by basketry weavings. The forms of the face are flat in character and are marked contrast to the undulating lines of the headdress.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Bamum. Funerary Headdress (Tugunga), late 19th century. Wood, rattan, pigment, 33 x 14 3/16 x 14 3/16 in. (83.8 x 36 x 36 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. Melville W. Hall, 73.36. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 73.36_front_PS1.jpg)
IMAGE front, 73.36_front_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.