wood, small remains of black paint and white pigment, expressive head with large eyes and smiling mouth, rising from long conical-shaped neck, surface structure strongly marked by insect caused damage and weathering (cracks), missing parts above all at the neck, base;
for a work of the same artist see Homberger, 2008, p. 127.
Such headdresses performed as male/female pairs on large festive occasions in Foumban. Fixed to wickerwork bases they were worn on the head, while the dancer covered his face with a scarf. Nowadays they exclusively appear for entertainment. Originally they might have belonged to the warrior society "nsorro", which performed its dances on the occasion of funerals of one of its members.
H: 55,5 cm, H: 21,9 inch
Provenance:
Old Irish Collection
Monica Wengraf, London, Great Britain
Lit.: Homberger, Lorenz (Hg.), Kamerun, Kunst der Könige, Zürich 2008, p. 116 ff.
Continent: Africa

See description