Royal crown (ade)

A beaded crown with frontal faces, birds, and a beaded fringe veil is a Yoruba king's most important regalia. It is simultaneously a symbol of the king's semi-divine status and the mythic origins of Yoruba royalty. According to oral tradition, Oduduwa was the founder and first king (oba) of the Yoruba peoples. He wore the first crown, which was created by Olokun, the god of the sea and inventor and "owner" of the beads. When Oduduwa became old, he sent his sixteen sons out into the world to found their own kingdoms. Only those rulers who can trace their ancestry to Oduduwa are privileged to wear the beaded crown.(21)

A beaded crown is typically conical in form and decorated with frontal faces, interlaces, zigzags, and one or more birds at the apex of the crown and, optionally, along the sides. Each of these motifs is symbolic of Yoruba divine kingship. The faces might represent Oduduwa, Olokun, or the father of the oba's lineage. The white face of the Dallas crown makes this association more apparent because white refers to the afterlife. The interlace pattern that appears above the face is associated with royalty and symbolizes eternity. The pattern of interlocking curves is never-ending like the oba's lineage. The bird or birds perched on the pinnacle of the crown symbolizes the oba's access to the sacred. The royal bird (okin) represents communication with the gods through flight; they connect the sky and earth. The beaded veil, which conceals the oba's face, allows him to act on behalf of the gods and ancestors whose symbolic forms decorate the crown (fig. 21). Essentially a mask, the crown allows the ruler's subjects to focus on only the headdress and the beliefs it represents.

Beaded crowns are made by highly skilled artists from the major beadworking centers of Effon-Alaiye, Ile-Ife, Oyo, Ilesha, Abeokuta, and Iperu-Remo. The crown begins as a conical framework of palm ribs covered with four layers of white cloth glued together with cornstarch. The three-dimensional forms and raised surfaces, such as the faces on this crown, are built up with additional cloth and cornstarch. Strands of tiny European beads are sewn onto the cloth in the desired patterns. The earliest crowns were decorated with African red jasper. Today, the beads are usually plastic. Older examples like this one incorporate glass beads, which are desirable because they are translucent and allow the colorful patterns to become infused with light, adding to the depth of the overall design.

The Arts of Africa at the Dallas Museum of Art, cat. 7, pp. 60-61.

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NOTES:

21. Thompson, Robert F. “Sign of the Divine King: An Essay on Yoruba Bead-embroidered Crowns.” African Arts 3, no. 3 (Summer 1970): 8–19. pp. 8-17.

Drewal, Henry John, and John Mason, with a contribution by Pravina Shukla. Beads, Body and Soul: Art and Light in the Yoruba Universe. Los Angeles: University of California, Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1998. pp. 201-205.