Helmet mask
Cameroon, Tikar/Bekom
sold
EUR 140
Size
H: 41,5 cm
H: 16.3 inch
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.