Mask of a leader "kam"
Click here to view a larger version of the imageLot: 177
92nd Tribal Art AuctionMask of a leader "kam"
Cameroon Grassfields, Bamileke / Babanki
Provenance | Size | Starting price / estimated price |
---|---|---|
Jean Pierre Diane (1967) Ernst and Ruth Anspach, New York, USA Sotheby's New York, May 15, 2003, lot 113 Merton Simpson, New York, USA Mark Eglinton, New York, USA |
H: 15.4 inch | This object is not available anymore. |
wood, pigment remains, collection number "1015" in white paint on the interior
"Kam" ("nkam" or "akam") is the leader of a so-called "juju" group of dancers, who perform at death celebrations and at festivities in honour of the ancestors. As the principal mask of the "juju", which carries additional medicines and controls the other masks, its importance was occasionally compared to the position of the head of the family.
Homberger, Lorenz (Hg.), Kamerun, Kunst der Könige, Zürich 2008, ill. 132
South Bend, Indiana, The Art Gallery of the Univ. of Notre Dame, Anspach Collection, March 17 - May 12, 1968, no 74