Buffalo mask · 

Cameroon Grassfields · ID: 3034353

Description

wood, blotched brown patina, big eyes with incised eyelashes, inflated nostrils, min. dam., missing part (next to the left eye), slight traces of abrasion;
the skull of a buffalo is associated with chiefly authority. This animal gives its horn for producing drinking horns which were widely used as prestige symbols and were handed down from one generation to the other. Thus, the buffalo is not only a royal symbol, but stands for the connection between different generations and between the village chief and the Fon as well.