Helmet Mask
Helmet Mask
Attribution follows a published museum catalogue or peer-reviewed scholarship. Object is held in a public collection under a published accession number.
Deliberately distorted and exaggerated facial features reflect the awesome powers of a great chief. The quadrupeds on the mask’s head suggest the close association between the leopard and the king. In the Cameroon grasslands, masks are typically related to a regulatory society that guards ancestral mores; society members wear the masks and dance in the secrecy of the night.
Catalogued by Cleveland Museum of Art as “Helmet Mask”, dated early 1900s. Harvested from the museum’s open-access record; every field below is copied from that record and none of it has been inferred.
Record
| People / culture | Bamileke |
|---|---|
| Country | Cameroon |
| Common name | Helmet Mask |
| Materials | Wood, paint, organic material, and iron alloy |
| Dimensions | Overall: 33 x 63.5 x 41.9 cm (13 x 25 x 16 1/2 in.) |
Provenance
(Georges D. Rodrigues); Mr. and Mrs. William D. Wixom
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1971-)
| Collection | Cleveland Museum of Art |
|---|---|
| Accession number | 1971.66 |
Source
https://clevelandart.org/art/1971.66
This record is a catalogue entry, not an appraisal, valuation or legal determination. Nothing here should be read as evidence that an object was lawfully acquired or exported.