Collection record · Objects & craft
Headdress
The collection record classifies this work as garment. It is dated 1900s. Recorded culture or place: Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Grassfields region, Bamileke-style maker.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Headdress
- Date
- 1900s
- Culture / origin
- Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Grassfields region, Bamileke-style maker
- Materials and technique
- African gray parrot feathers, wood, plant fiber, probably cotton, string, and colorant
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 90 cm (35 7/16 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 2007.181
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
Hundreds of red tail feathers from the grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) 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 (mbap mteng) in the shape of that animal, such as 1985.1082.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Sundry Purchase Fund · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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