Gelede masks pertain to a society within Yoruba culture that concerns itself with appeasing the potentially harmful spirits of women. Women, especially when elderly, are held to be a spiritual asset to Yoruba society, but they can become “aje” – that is, summoning up destruction and ill fortune upon the group that displeases them. To appease them, therefore, the gelede society puts on shows in which certain themes are addressed by gelede dancers wearing recognisable headdresses. Usually they are accompanied by full-length costumes that conceal the identity of the wearer. The worthy are praised, the unworthy satirised and the cosmic forces affecting the community evoked and explored. Each localised group has stylistic deviations from the norm that are essentially unique in combination. Muslim areas are likely to produce masks with beards and strongly masculine features, while local myths are also likely to find expression in gelede artefacts. The current example presents a host of stylistic conventions, and is further complicated by the addition of extra detailing. The figure is male, and has the pointed beard often associated with Muslims in Yoruban culture. The face is small and wizened, with two irregular teeth perhaps denoting a person of advanced years. The eyes are cunning and hooded, exaggerated by carving of a deep groove where they join the forehead. The superstructure comprises large ears surmounted by a pair of very large and ornate curved horns (or perhaps ears) that sweep back from the face and double the height of the mask. The whole is decorated with incised decoration, and is doubly dramatic for the dark colouring and the detailing that is picked out in creamy-white. The cheeks are adorned with double grooves, denoting scars, which have been painted white. The drama of the piece has been highlighted with the addition of dark feathers and a seed pod that haven been attached along the apex of the mask and on the forehead. There are no holes in the rim that would have been set upon the wearer’s head, so any costume would have had to be attached in some other way. It is possible that this mask was designed to represent animals, sylvan spirits or some other natural force, as these elements are invariably included in gelede masquerades.