Large head sculpture "tu ngünga", before 1922 · Cameroon Grassfields, Bamum · ID: 3041430
Monica Wengraf, London, Great Britain
Description
wood, small remains of black paint and white pigment, expressive head with large eyes and smiling mouth, rising from long conical-shaped neck, surface structure strongly marked by insect caused damage and weathering (cracks), missing parts above all at the neck, base;
for a work of the same artist see Homberger, 2008, p. 127.
Such headdresses performed as male/female pairs on large festive occasions in Foumban. Fixed to wickerwork bases they were worn on the head, while the dancer covered his face with a scarf. Nowadays they exclusively appear for entertainment. Originally they might have belonged to the warrior society “nsorro”, which performed its dances on the occasion of funerals of one of its members.
Comparing literature
Homberger, Lorenz (Hg.), Kamerun, Kunst der Könige, Zürich 2008, p. 116 ff.