A mask from the Madiembi chiefdom, whose head also leads the Nji Kouotin chiefdom, in the Sultanate of Foumban, Cameroon. It was not worn on the face but carried upright in the hands.
1. Use in Ritual Festivities
According to the collection catalogue, notables of the chiefdom carried masks of this kind at ritual festivities: sowing, harvest, funerals and celebrations in honour of the chief. Their purpose was to testify to the notables' subservience to the ruler.
2. The Procession
The mask belongs to a procession of six masks of this type. The catalogue presumes that it was staged by a men's society formed by the notables, probably a secret one. Six figures moving together would have given the appearance a collective, disciplined weight.
3. Construction
The catalogue describes the mask as elaborately made in woven wickerwork. It leaves a strong expression, one that commands obedience. The technique sets the piece apart from carved masks and shows how much effort went into an object meant to be borne by hand through the community.
Summary
A hand-carried mask from a Bamun chiefdom, part of a procession of six that expressed the notables' loyalty to their chief.
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