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Helmet Mask
early 1900s
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
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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Details
- Title: Helmet Mask
- Date Created: early 1900s
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 33 x 63.5 x 41.9 cm (13 x 25 x 16 1/2 in.)
- Provenance: (Georges D. Rodrigues); Mr. and Mrs. William D. Wixom, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Mask
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1971.66
- Medium: Wood, paint, organic material, and iron alloy
- Department: African Art
- Culture: Equatorial Africa, Cameroon, possibly Kom, early 20th century
- Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William D. Wixom in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph M. Coe
- Collection: African Art
- Accession Number: 1971.66
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