Tribal Art

Rare mask from the Bafut chiefdom, on the Bamenda plateau. This mask with the rounded cheeks of a blower, a plastic tradition of the Grasslands, wears a royal headdress offering stylized zoomorphic motifs. It was worn on the top of the head. Located in the border region of Nigeria, the North-West province of Cameroon, Grassland, is made up of several ethnic groups including the Bagam. Several centralized chiefdoms, or kingdoms, based on customary associations, secret societies, are organized around the Fon who is said to have broad supernatural powers including the ability to transform into an animal. Lineage societies, during ritual ceremonies, use this type of funerary and royal masks, with varied functions depending on the chiefdoms. Satin brown patina, abrasions, small accidents.