The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Crown (adéńlá)

1900s

Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker

Cloth (probably cotton and wool), glass beads, reeds, cardboard, wood, plant fiber, cotton, and quills
Diameter: 26.8 cm (10 9/16 in.); Overall: 105.9 cm (41 11/16 in.); Cone: 35.1 cm (13 13/16 in.); Fringe: 55.3 cm (21 3/4 in.)
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1995.22
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

No one––not even the king who wears it––is allowed to look inside this crown, as that's where it is most powerful.

Description

The most important of all regalia, topped with the "royal bird" Okin, this headdress connects the king to Oduduwa, the mythical founder of the Yoruba. The veil of beaded strings masks the identity of the wearer and protects his subjects from the supernatural powers that radiate from his face. The crown also signifies the "inner head" of the king, the locus of an awesome life force called ase.
  • (Douglas Dawson, Chicago)
  • Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. Reproduced: cat. 24, p. 78 - 79
    “A Walking Tour: The entire new museum wing by wing, with curators calling out a few favorite works in the collection.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 54, no. 1 (January/February 2014): 8-33. Reproduced and Mentioned: p.12 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 14
    Smith, Fred T., Judith Perani, Joseph L. Underwood, and Martha J. Ehrlich. The Visual Arts of Africa : Gender, Power, and Life Cycle Rituals. Second edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 158-159, no. 6.4
  • {{cite web|title=Crown (adéńlá)|url=false|author=|year=1900s|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1995.22