ClassificationsAfrican Art

Female Helmet Crest Mask, Ngoin

Place CreatedCameroon, Africa

CultureKom

Datelate 19th-late 20th Century

MediumWood, metal, pigment

Credit LineEx coll. William S. Arnett

Dimensions14 3/16 x 10 1/16 x 10 1/4 in. (36 x 25.5 x 26 cm)

Object number1994.004.233

Label TextMasks from the Cameroon Grassfields were owned by either the men's regulatory society (Kwifoyn) that shared power with the king (Fon), or by lineage groups authorized by the Kwifoyn to perform. Although all masked dancers in the Grassfields are male, they may represent either male or female characters. This mask represents Ngoin, the royal wife and a symbol of womanhood. The mask can be identified by the royal headdress that has an almond or oval-shaped protruberance at the top and a wavy or zigzag hairline. Ngoin dances with short, restrained steps to mark her royal presence.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Installation, November 19, 2007 - December 1, 2014
Masquerade: Scripturalizing Modernities Through Black Flesh, A Pitts Theology Library Digital Exhibition, Emory University, 2021 (virtual exhibition)
Published ReferencesMarcilene K. Wittmer, Cameroon: An Exhibition of African Art from the Collection of William and Robert Arnett (Charlotte, NC: Mint Museum, 1977), 6, number 2.

ProvenanceEx coll. William S. Arnett (1939-2020), Atlanta, Georgia, from at least 1977.

Status

Not on view

Collections