Object Notes

Some works of art, such as this one, can be mystifying. Scholars are intrigued by them, yet they know little about why, where, and how the works were made and used. This woman’s shawl—or is it a head scarf?—exemplifies this quandary.

Pelete means "cut-thread" and bite means "cloth" in the Ijo language. Pelete bite is uniquely associated with Kalabari peoples living in the Delta region of Nigeria and produced solely by Kalabari women in the town of Buguma.

Voluminous tailored "robes of honor" evoke traditional concepts of success, power, and influence. Traditionally, such robes are made of wild silk or cotton threads, woven in narrow strips on a hand loom, and extensively embroidered with silk, cotton, or wool threads. The robes have sleeves longer than the wearer's extended arms which are bunched or folded over the shoulder.

According to Yoruba oral tradition, beads were invented by Olokun,the god of the sea, who made a beaded crown for the Odudua (also Oduduwa), the founder and first king of the Yoruba peoples in southwestern Nigeria. This would have occurred in the mythical past.

This colorful, lavishly decorated, and much used Egungun costume is made of imported corduroy and velvet, sequins, yarns, threads, brass bells, and chain links, as well as cowrie shells, which were used as currency before the introduction of coins and paper money. It has two layers of lappets, each distinguished by materials and decoration.

The visual arts flourished in the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey (modern Republic of Benin) from the 1720s until the French conquest in 1892. The Fon Kingdom evolved into a highly centralized monarchy with a large, sophisticated army that allowed it to expand to the Atlantic Coast by the mid-18th century.