Nigerian Yoruba People Funeral Mask: "Egungun"

This is a Nigerian Yoruba People mask called an "egungun" mask to perform a ceremony to honor the spirits of ancestors.

Funeral rites or festivals to commemorate the ancestors involve masked dancers. Egungun dancers, always male, perform at the funerals of important individuals. The performance strengthens the ties between the living and the recently dead ancestor.

The festivals, at which ancestors are said to visit their descendants, are held every year or two. Such festivals involve offerings to honor the ancestors for past and future aid.

This mask has an unusually long beard. Both cheeks have three scarification lines, called "pele". Its ears are oversized, perhaps modelled after those of a hare. The mask is brightly painted.

Source:
https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad6a9c.html#:~:text=The dead come back to,of dead people (1997).
https://www.michaelbackmanltd.com/object/yoruba-egungun-headdress-carved-by-baba-mola-of-kesi/