An Ekoi/Boki Headcrest

the coiled circular rattan headdress beneath the zoomorphic wooden head covered with skin, the protruding mouth surmounted by a pointed snout and inset with metal teeth and a boar's tusk attached to the left, the almond shaped eyes framed by arched eyebrows, surmounted by an elaborate crown made of textile and animal skin; aged patina overall.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Milwaukee Public Museum, Selections from The William W. Brill Colllection of African Art, May 5 - August 31, 1969 (for additional venues see bibliography, Milwaukee 1969)

Milwaukee: 26, figure 38
The Duluth Sunday News-Tribune, February 8, 1970: 6

Headcrests like the present and the following lot were used during funerary ceremonies by the Ekpe society in the Cross River Region. For a closely related headcrest, formerly in the Goldet collection in Paris, see de Ricqlès, Collection Hubert Goldet, June 30 - July 1, 2001, lot 118.