In Yoruba society, access to fully beaded materials is a privilege reserved for kings and priests. The value of a beaded artifact extends far beyond denoting wealth; symbolically, beaded materials identify a person whose spiritual power enables him to move into the spirit world (orun). In its ability to “reflect, transmit, and transform light,” the bead “also transforms the object and person it adorns” (Drewal and Mason 1997, 17). The Yoruba king, or oba, a direct descendant of the creator Oduduwa, possesses the largest range of beaded objects, from slippers to ceremonial swords. However, the most important symbol of kingship is a fully beaded crown, or ade. The traditional crown is a tall, conical form, with frontal faces beaded in low relief circling the exterior, and a long, beaded veil. The veil serves to conceal the king’s gaze from the viewer, as it is believed to be dangerous to stare at his naked face. Disguising his face removes his humanness, and he becomes emblematic of the royal legacy. The frontal faces emblazoned on the crown’s surface further enhance this mythical union. They allude to the king’s omnipresence—his awareness of all that goes on around him— and sanction him with a magical characteristic of Oduduwa, the possession of two heads, one spiritual and one earthly. jkd