Kom (or Bekom), Cameroon grasslands: a black head crest mask of the ‘juju dancers’ from north-west Cameroon.
Kom (or Bekom), Cameroon grasslands: a black head crest mask of the ‘juju dancers’ from north-west Cameroon.
In the small kingdoms in the fertile grassland of north-west Cameroon, every royal palace, every town, every village and every large family clan maintains its own dance and music group, the so-called ‘juju dancers’. They wear these masks, not in front of the face, but somewhat diagonally above on the head. The dancers look out through a fabric net beneath the rim of the mask.
The present mask is characteristic for this type: carved of hard, heavy wood and dyed black. Stylistically it must be assigned to the Kom (also known as Bekom) or to the Bamum. With a good, old, slightly encrusted patina on the outside and a fine shiny patina on the inside, precisely where the head of the ‘juju dancers’ has often rubbed against it. There is no noteworthy damage.
Height: c. 35 cm. First half of the 20th century. (ME)
Provenance: Hungarian private collection.
Lit.: ‘Kamerun. Kunst der Könige’ by Lorenz Homberger, ill. 119, 133.
Esperto: Prof. Erwin Melchardt
Prof. Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
06.04.2017 - 15:00
- Prezzo di partenza:
-
EUR 800,-
Kom (or Bekom), Cameroon grasslands: a black head crest mask of the ‘juju dancers’ from north-west Cameroon.
In the small kingdoms in the fertile grassland of north-west Cameroon, every royal palace, every town, every village and every large family clan maintains its own dance and music group, the so-called ‘juju dancers’. They wear these masks, not in front of the face, but somewhat diagonally above on the head. The dancers look out through a fabric net beneath the rim of the mask.
The present mask is characteristic for this type: carved of hard, heavy wood and dyed black. Stylistically it must be assigned to the Kom (also known as Bekom) or to the Bamum. With a good, old, slightly encrusted patina on the outside and a fine shiny patina on the inside, precisely where the head of the ‘juju dancers’ has often rubbed against it. There is no noteworthy damage.
Height: c. 35 cm. First half of the 20th century. (ME)
Provenance: Hungarian private collection.
Lit.: ‘Kamerun. Kunst der Könige’ by Lorenz Homberger, ill. 119, 133.
Esperto: Prof. Erwin Melchardt
Prof. Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
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lun-ven: 10.00 - 17.00
kundendienst@dorotheum.at +43 1 515 60 200 |
| Asta: | Tribal Art |
| Tipo d'asta: | Asta in sala |
| Data: | 06.04.2017 - 15:00 |
| Luogo dell'asta: | Wien | Palais Dorotheum |
| Esposizione: | 01.04. - 06.04.2017 |