Headdress
1900s
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
Hundreds of red tail feathers from the grey parrot (<em>Psittacus</em> <em>erithacus</em>) decorate this disk-shaped headdress. Only the king, some high-ranking individuals, and members of the all-male elephant society—known in different languages as Kuosi, Nekang, or Kem-ndze—wore this prestigious headgear at ceremonies and funerals. Typically, the headdress was worn pushed slightly back from the hairline. When used by members of the elephant society, it was accompanied by a cloth and glass bead mask (<em>mbap</em> <em>mteng</em>) in the shape of that animal, such as 1985.1082.
- Title: Headdress
- Date Created: 1900s
- Physical Dimensions: Diameter: 90 cm (35 7/16 in.)
- Provenance: (Jacques Hautelet, La Jolla, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Garment
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/2007.181
- Medium: African gray parrot feathers, wood, plant fiber, probably cotton, string, and colorant
- Fun Fact: This headdress has an ingenious built-in storage system: it can be flipped inside out to encase the feathers within a rigid woven structure, protecting them during storage or travel.
- Department: African Art
- Culture: Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Grassfields region, Bamileke maker
- Credit Line: Sundry Purchase Fund
- Collection: African Art
- Accession Number: 2007.181
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