It is widely known that the crown or “ade’ as the Yoruba people call it, is the most notable material piece of the Yoruba culture. José Rodriguez, was commissioned by the Fowler museum in 1997 to recreate a Yoruba crown. The Yoruba people are located in West Africa, and have used the power of Ase to fill it’s people with ancestral authority. This beaded crown is only worn by Yoruba kings in Africa to honor the deities, in religious ritual and ceremony. Yoruba priests in the America’s, on the other hand, use the crown as a symbol of initiation into orisa worship, which further enforces the legacy of African tradition.The Yoruba art piece, “Crown”, encompasses physical detailing, symbolism, and and ancestral culture, which not only showcase the physical beauty of the art piece and cultural significance, but distinguish gender roles within the culture. (See Figure 1.)
Symbolism which can be found within the physical additions of the bird, elephant, and faces, as well as, the colors of the crown which hold spiritual significance for the Yoruba people. Significance can be found in the placement of the bird atop of the elephant on the beaded crown. The Yoruba culture is hunter based, because of this, animals are emphasized throughout the culture in spiritual ways. According to, Animals in the Traditional Worldview of the Yoruba, by Ajibade George Olusola, “The Yorùbá believe that animals like humans are able to feel pain, pleasure, joy, fear, and so on… This illustrates the belief of the Yorùbá that animals are divine just like humans and that the divine essence in them must be revered and honoured.” Because of this widespread belief, animals are depicted as symbols which play a part in the ancestral or spiritual world. Specifically, it is widely known within Yoruba culture that birds often appear in Yoruban art, as the power of crafty elderly women. It was believed that women had the power to turn into birds, further wreaking havoc on people by threatening to kill them and cause other physical harm. Elder women, known as mothers, within the culture are thought to, Art and the Perception of Women in Yorùbá Culture,
“when angered the mothers operate surreptitiously to seek out and consume their victims Their attacks are believed to result in stillbirth and conditions such as elephantiasis impotency infertility and false pregnancy which turns to water at parturition or debilitating diseases which slowly destroy the victim without outward sign Operating invisibly they freely destroy in the middle of the town or farm as one of their praise poems proclaims.”
The bird of the crown is a symbol of these haughty women and further an exhibition of the role women play in Yoruba society. In addition, faces can also be delightfully viewed on the sides of the crown. Faces are said to be an avenue of honoring the Oduduwa (See Figure 2). The sea divinity Olokun, is the patron of bead artists and also the source of where the beads come from in order to create the entire crown, he is also represented. Elephants hold distinct symbolism as well. They are representatives of royalty and honor, they are known to be mighty and strong, while also clumsy. The Yoruba people use these real everyday figures as various symbols for distinct beliefs in their culture.
The design, triangular detail, the beaded veil, and the beads on the crown are all details which enhance the piece symbolically, but further spiritually. Distinct significance of the crown can be found in the long beaded veil which covers the face of the king. According to the Hamill Gallery of Tribal Art, “By covering the king's face, the veil downplays the king's identity as an individual and reinforces his role as divine leader. The veil is also said to protect onlookers from the king's powerful gaze.” The addition of the beaded veil conveys a power imbalance, being that the king can barely see who is watching him, but others can freely look upon the king. According to, The Sign of the Divine King: An Essay on Yoruba Bead-Embroidered Crowns with Veil and Bird Decorations, “Veiling diminishes the wearer's individuality so that he, too, becomes a generalized entity. Balance between the present and the past emerges. No longer an individual, the king becomes the dynasty. He is concealed behind his beaded netting in away not unlike the manner of concealment traditional to [the culture].” While onlookers may view the king's stature, they are not able to see his face due to the barrier, which also further distinguishes the king as a spiritual being. The beading is a suggestion to both intricacies of the oba’s identity from the way of being seen in the physical world (aye) and unseen (orun) which would further mean being seen in the spiritual world. Beads in the Yoruba culture are prized objects, believed to aid in sealing spiritual forces. It is commonly understood that beads denote faith, along with social and religious statue. The color of the beads also hold significance within the Yoruba culture. Blue beads are symbols of coolness and darkness, in temperament and temperature alike. Red beading symbolizes blood shed and passion.
The Yoruba crown holds vast ancestral history. It is commonly known in the Yoruba culture that it was none other than Oduduwa himself, who according to, The Sign of the Divine King: An Essay on Yoruba Bead-Embroidered Crowns with Veil and Bird Decorations is no other than the “maker of land above water and the father of the Yoruba, who came to instill the wearing of crowns.” The Yoruba people find spiritual significance in many things, but specifically the crown is said to bring them closer to ancestral force. “The crown incarnates the intuition of royal ancestral force, the revelation of great moral insight in the possession of the king, and the glitter of aesthetic experience.” The Oduduwa founded the Yoruba kingdom in 1100 C.E., they believed that the royal ancestors are always watching and protecting the living representative of the royal family. According to Ra Nu, Yoruba Traditions,
“The oral history of the Yoruba describes an origin myth, which tells of God lowering a chain at Ile-Ife, down which came Oduduwa, the ancestor of all people, bringing with him a cock, some earth, and a palm kernel. The earth was thrown into the water, the cock scratched it to become land, and the kernel grew into a tree with sixteen limbs, representing the original sixteen kingdoms.”
The Yoruba culture uses the crown to honor/ worship such deities who aided in the creation of the culture from God. The crown is an avenue of showing respect to the ancestral forces, through the face being depicted on the crown, the long veiled beading, and the meaning behind the beading, of how it separates the king from man and turns him no longer into a king but a deity. The crown is also used to worship deities. The deity specifically being worshipped here would be the Orisa, or the Olokun, who are both deities of water. According to Engaging the Orisa: An Exploration of the Yoruba Concepts of Ibeji and Olokun as Theoretical Principles in Black Theology by Marcus Harvey,
“Ibeji and Olokun are orisa, or deities, in the interminable Yoruba pantheon. They are imbued by Olodumare (the Supreme Being) with degrees of spiritual power and are variously efficacious in the material world. The meanings attached to these realities encompass more than what will be highlighted in the present essay. Due to space limitations, a discussion of these wider meanings appears where appropriate in the footnotes.”
These are deities of water and symbolism to the Yoruba people to be who they are worshipping. The spiritual power that they hold is non-significant to the material world. Because of this, the Yoruba people are rooted in spiritual and ancestral tradition, instead of being swayed into material culture.
The Yoruba crown encompasses physical beauty, religious iconography, and symbolizes royalty. Spiritual significance can be found within the physical properties of the crown such as the faces, the elephant, and the bird. Gender roles as well as spiritual divinity is also found within the meaning of the crown, depicted by the individual beads, and the beading of the veil. Beads hold a distinct significance of their own, which are special to the Yoruba culture. The bird, elephant, and faces which are all showcased on the crown to represent spiritual celebrations and beliefs. While this crown is only worn by Yoruba royalty, it was meant for onlookers to praise. My takeaway from this piece is actually admiration of the Yoruba people for how much importance they place on faith and spirituality. They chose not to partake in materialism, but keep their traditions, spirituality, and ancestors in their focus. The Yoruba art piece, “Crown”, by José Rodriguez, encompasses physical detailing, symbolism, and and ancestral culture, which not only showcase the physical beauty of the art piece and cultural significance, but distinguish gender roles within the culture.