Helmet mask · Cameroon, Tikar/Bekom · ID: 3035254
Description
wood, blotched brown patina, accents with kaolin, characteristic Bekom features: big almond eyes, strong nose and nostrils, projecting mouth with revealed teeth, unusual detail: the eyelashes along the lower lid carved in flat relief, bonnet-shaped coiffure with central opening, slightly dam., minor missing parts (right alar wing and corner of the mouth, left ear, rim on the back), cracks, paint rubbed off;
such masks were used in annual agricultural fertility dances. They also appeared at receptions for important visitors and at funerary rites.
The object Helmet mask with the object ID 3035254 was last part of the auction 74th tribal art auction at September 7, 2013 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 298 achieved a sales price of EUR 140.
You can find more Masks and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.
Comparing literature
Gebauer, Paul, Art of Cameroon, New York 1979, P 10