Region: Calabar, Nigeria Accession: X65.9043 Period: Late 19th-early 20th century Materials: Wood, metal, bone, leather
In the Cross River region of Nigeria and Cameroon, spectacular headdresses covered in antelope skin were used in a play known as Ikem, meaning ”all of one heart and one mind” to venerate ancestors. This headdress would be worn on top of the head during performances, and the dramatic coiffure represented on it is typical of a type favored by young women at the end of initiation.
