Size: 19H x 10.5 W

In Nigeria, the right to wear crowns is limited to approximately fifty Yoruba kings. Theoretically, only direct descendants of one of the sixteen children of the god ORISHA, first king of the Yoruba people, can wear them. ORISHA blessed mankind with the use of beads, and their use is restricted to those whose spiritual powers enable them to move across the boundary that separates men from gods, the secular from the sacred. The crown itself is worshiped. It is placed upon the king's head from behind, usually by the senior wife, because he may not look upon the bird which goes on the top, which holds powerful medicines to protect him and his destiny. Yoruba crowns are embellished with abstract motifs and faces and birds. The strands of beads hanging from the crown, is the veil of the crown. The veil is to keep viewers from seeing the king's face, masking his individuality, and also focusing attention on the real focus of power, the crown.

**Stand not included.