Dance crest

Description

human skull (without lower jaw), covered with animal skin, just the eyes left free, marked by metal discs (tin) and stud with metal tag pupils, lower jaw, nose and ears modelled in wood, coiffure, eyebrows and beard from human hair, rising from conical-shaped wooden neck coated with wickerwork, stripes of cloth on both sides of the mouth for fixing the lower jaw, slightly encrusted patina in some areas, good condition (teeth in the upper jaw preserved);
the Boki live on both sides of the border between Nigeria and Cameroon, in the upper Cross River region. Just like their neighbours the Ekoi/Ejagham and other ethnies of the Crossriver area, the Boki cultivated a headhunting tradition with the corresponding head crests. These were allegedly have originally been made of real human skulls from killed enemies. They were exhibited on special trophee parades, worn by young men as a sign of manliness. In areas whose population was constantly under the threat of raids, clan feuds, tribal warfare or slave hunts it comes as no surprise that the skill of a young man in combat was measured by this kind of practice.
There was a transition from a trophy cult to a cult of skulls/ancestors.
Correspondingly they were no longer used for war masquerades but for initiation rites and in funeral ceremonies.
The headdresses have a realistic, but not a portrayal character. They do not represent one specific ancestor. In fact they were handed down from one generation to another, thus - as a whole - embodying the nobel doings of every ancestor, who ever possessed it.