Mask ·  Cameroon, Bangwa · ID: 3035563

Description

wood, dark brown encrusted patina, remains of kaolin in the area of the eyes, nose, mouth and ears, heart-shaped facial plane with bulging cheeks and round mouth with filed teeth, four holes on the forehead (probably for the attachment of decoration), pierced around the rim, cracks, traces of abrasion, socle;
the Bangwa are one of the most important groups among the Bamileke. Numbering about 40,000 to 50,000 people, they live in about nine small communities, called chefferies.
The expressivity and the individual expression on the face are typical for the Bangwa region.

Comparing literature

Thompson, Jerry L. & Susan Vogel, CloseUp, New York, Munich 1991, p. 162, ill. 93