Helmet Mask, early 1900s. Deliberately distorted and exaggerated facial features reflect the awesome powers of a great chief. The quadrupeds on the mask’s head suggest the close association between the leopard and the king. In the Cameroon grasslands, masks are typically related to a regulatory society that guards ancestral mores; society members wear the masks and dance in the secrecy of the night.

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Size: 6100px × 7900px
Photo credit: © Heritage Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 20th, africa, art, cameroon, century, cleveland, early, equatorial, heritage, kom, museum, pigment, possibly, sculpture, unknown, wood