Head crest "tu ngünga" · Cameroon Grassfields, Bamum · ID: 3040701
Yves Créhalet, Paris, France
Rive Gauche, Paris, 18 November 2013, lot 130
Description
wood, brown patina, proportionally small triangular face with exremely voluminous balloon-like coiffure with grooves and large projecting ears, rising from a long neck with rectangular breakthrough (for attachment), the face marked by large eyes in wide oval eye sockets, slightly dam. (ears, coiffure), cracks, traces of insect caused damage (above all backside), base;
the head crests were balanced on the dancer’s head, while his face was completely wrapped in cloth. The masks appeared in pairs male/female and danced to the sounds of an orchestra. Nowadays they perform for entertainment of the audience, but in former times they surely had ritual purposes. Research suggested that they once belonged to the war society “nsorro”, which performed masquerades on the occasion of funerals of important members.
Comparing literature
Homberger, Lorenz (Hg.), Kamerun, Kunst der Könige, Zürich 2008, p. 116 ff.