Bamun mask of the Cameroun 

Bamun mask

37 cm high
ca. 1900

Price : SOLD

Bamun mask SOLD - request of availability

condition: old black-brown shiny patina, some parts missing in the coiffe, a big crack in the wood on it's right side.

Provenance: Alfons Bermel who owned a gallery in Berlin 1989-1996

Masks of the highlands represent power and authority. 

Some of them represent animals, noblewoman or makes of noble lineage as shown by the coiffure.

 The quite elaborated arched headdress, and ornated crest bearing a spider is restricted to royalty.

email David Norden about the Bamoun

Bamun Bibliography:

- This fine head is probably from the same carver as the one in  the Portland Art Museum, Gebauer collection ( See illustration in Robbins Nooter  African Art in American Collections ~ Warren M. Robbins page 316 figure 812 to compare, a book that should be in any serious collector library)

- Cameroon: Art and Kings ~ Christraud M. Geary & Hans-Joachim Koloss 255 pages. The ancient kingdoms of the Cameroon Grassfields are famous for their splendid artworks - thrones ornamented with precious European beads, wooden figures sculptured by unknown masters, enormous drums, finely carved jewelry made from ivory and brass, as well as fabulous masks. This book presents 150 impressive masterpieces from the courts (...) Two leading scholars in the field of Cameroonian art give an important introduction to the fascinating and complex world of the Grassfield kingdoms: their rituals, secret societies, and, above all, the meaning of art in this context. Hans-Joachim Koloss gives a detailed overview of court art in the North West Province, focusing in particular on the numerous masks which are owned by the palaces as well as the secret societies.

- Babungo: Treasures of the Sculptor Kings in Cameroon ~ Jean-Paul Notue, Professor of Art History and Museology at the University of Yaounde I, Cameroon, Associate Researcher IRD (Institut Français de Recherche pour le Développement en Coopération). 224 pages. The selection of the pieces is quite different than the one which would have been done  by western museum curators. But this interesting book gives some interesting  insights inthe Bamun culture. This book interprets a sample of major and significant objects from the rich cultural and artistic heritage of Babungo, which was formerly the most important iron-working center in Cameroon . The treasure of the talented sculptor kings of Babungo, with thousands of pieces, still remains the most impressive of the Grassland.

 

At this moment there are many exhibitions related on Cameroun Art.  Like the Paul and Clara Gebauer Collection of Cameroon Art and Cameroon Art of the Kings 

Bamun mask sold This fine XIXth century Bamun  should be in a museum or high end private collection. Click on the thumbnails to see larger views. 

Send me an email about the Bamoun if you are interested in this type of objects and want me to tell you when I have another one. 

Bamun mask soldt - request of availability