© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

ClassificationsAfrican Art

Helmet Crest Mask

Place CreatedCameroon, Africa

CultureBabungo

Date19th-20th Century

MediumWood, pigment, kaolin

Credit LineEx coll. William S. Arnett

Dimensions25 x 12 5/8 in. (63.5 x 32.1 cm)

Object number1994.004.742

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. The pointed elements on the top of the double plateform of this mask may represent arrows or spearheads. Both war and hunting, evoked by the arrows or searheads, are activities exemplifying manhood. The spearhead motif may carried added significance for this mask has been attributed to the Babungo region, an importnat smelting center in the Grassfields.
Exhibition HistoryCameroon Art: Selections from the Collection of William Arnett, The Art Gallery, Kennesaw State College, Kennesaw, Georgia, January 30 - March 22, 1989
MCCM Permanent Collection Installation, Rotation 1, December 15, 1995 - December 1996
MCCM Permanent Collection Installation, Rotation 3, September 26, 1998 - Spring 2003
Published ReferencesMarcilene K. Wittmer, Cameroon: An Exhibition of African Art from the Collection of William & Robert Arnett (Atlanta: William S. Arnett, 1977), 12, number 10.
Cameroon Art: Selections from the Collection of William Arnett (Kennesaw: The Art Gallery, Kennesaw State College, 1989), 19, number 9.

ProvenanceEx coll. William S. Arnett (1939-2020), Atlanta, Georgia, by 1977.

Status

Not on view

Collections