A helmet mask from the Tam Mayoh Chiefdom, Mabouo, in the Sultanate of Foumban, Cameroon. A seated female figure rides on top of a grimacing face, and a large textile cap carries the whole.

1. Form and Carving

The face is broad and heavy, with swollen cheeks, large ringed eyes with pale rims and a wide mouth baring rows of teeth. Its surface is a reddish brown. Ridged lines run across the brow, and two horn-like forms with green-painted ends curve up and outwards from the head.

On top sits a carved seated woman with her arms raised to hold the horns. She wears a band of cowries on her head and a ring at her neck, and her face has the same wide, pale-rimmed eyes.

2. Textile Mount

The mask rests on a large rounded cap of cloth. Its upper part is dark blue, edged in red and gold, with embroidered red and yellow shapes. Below, a panel of woven hessian is set with cowries, and a deep blue cloth skirt hangs down, finished with a printed yellow border. The cloth is spattered with pale marks.

3. Use and Context

According to the collection catalogue, a mask of this kind was worn exclusively by the clan chief. When a chief dies it passes to his successor, hence the name heritage mask. Such masks, with extremely expressive faces and elaborate headdresses, were used only at particularly important festivals.

Summary

A chief's heritage mask with a grimacing face, horns and a seated figure, carried on a cowrie-set cloth cap.