Description
n Cameroon’s Northwest Province, all-male regulatory associations called Kwifon are in charge of social control and law enforcement and use masquerades to seek the guidance of supernatural forces. This mask, with its bulging cheeks and eyes and striated hairstyle, represents mambu. Dressed with a feather costume, this character precedes the arrival of more powerful and fearsome masks during burials and funerary celebrations of important association members.
Provenance
John J. Klejman (died 1995), J.J. Klejman Gallery, New York, N.Y., by 1966; sold to the Art Institute, 1966.
Accession Number
25900
Medium
Wood and pigment
Dimensions
35.6 × 28 × 21 cm (14 × 11 × 8 1/4 in.)
Classification
masks
Credit Line
African and Amerindian Art Purchase Fund