Object Name

emedot

Label Text

Among the pastoral Karamojong of Kenya and eastern Uganda, men wear mudpack coiffures after they are initiated into adulthood. Well-groomed hair is a sign of strength, courage and masculinity. In celebration of their new status, they assume the regalia of young warriors, including an ornamented coiffure that involves packing clay into the hair and forming a chignon at the back of the head. When the clay has dried, it is divided into sections, colored with various ochres, stippled with a tooth comb and decorated with beads or pieces of chain, as is the front of this headdress. This hairstyle generally remains the same throughout a man's adult life. A man can display his status as an elder by adding ostrich plumes through wire coils inserted into the headdress. This wig is representative of those in current use.

Mud packed headdress or coiffure with chignon at the back of the head. Pigment and hairs embellish the mud-pack. A crest of black ostrich feathers is accented with a large white feather on either side.

Provenance

Michel Hughenin, Paris

Emile M. and Lin Deletaille, Brussels, -- to 1986

Exhibition History

Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., April 22, 2013-February 23, 2014; Bowdoin College Museum of Art, October 15, 2015-March 9, 2016

TxtStyles: Fashioning Identity, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 11-December 7, 2008

Hats Off! A Salute to African Headwear, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., July 18-December 26, 1999

Published References

Milbourne, Karen E. 2013. Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa. New York: The Monacelli Press; Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 27, no. 12.

National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 162, no. 118.

Topic

Initiation

Status

Adornment

Male use

National Museum of African Art

Karamojong artist

Credit Line

Gift of Emile and Lin Deletaille

Medium

Hair, ceramic, ostrich feathers, metal, pigment

Dimensions

H x W x D: 35.5 x 70 x 60 cm (14 x 27 9/16 x 23 5/8 in.)

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

Geography

Kenya

Uganda

Mid-late 20th century

Type

Costume Accessory

Object number

86-8-1