Two standing terracotta figures from the Mabouo chiefdom in the Sultanate of Foumban, Cameroon. Each has two heads on separate necks that rise from a single body. One figure is male, the other female.

1. Form and Modelling

Both figures stand upright on sturdy legs with broad, detailed feet. The two necks of each figure are long and slender, each carrying a round head with a hairstyle of small clustered curls. A coil ring sits at the base of each neck. The torsos are covered in incised chevron bands, with rows of small impressed dots on the belly, and a modelled band marks the waist.

2. The Two Figures

The male figure holds his rounded arms forward against the chest. Both of his faces have full, softly curved lips and half-closed eyes. The female figure has modelled breasts, rests her hands on her hips and wears a bracelet on each wrist and a ring on each ankle. Her two faces have narrow, closed mouths and a faint smile.

3. Surface

The clay is an even orange-brown, with pale chalky deposits gathering in the incised lines and the folds of the modelling. The collection catalogue records the pair as terracotta from the Mabouo chiefdom, Sultanate of Foumban.

Summary

A pair of double-headed terracotta figures, one male and one female, with chevron-incised torsos and clustered hairstyles, from the Mabouo chiefdom.