Bekom Helmet Mask

Paul Gebauer, the seminal collector and writer on the art of Cameroon, wrote that Grassfields masks, when “displayed in a museum…convey only a fraction of their dramatic qualities… Deprived of their swirling feather-cloaks, the pulsating drumbeats, and the tidal waves of song, these masks are limited witness… But there are some advantages in a museum display. One becomes aware of the extraordinary variety of styles.”

The Grassfields region is fertile volcanic upland, predominantly in west and northwest Cameroon. Its relatively cool climate, reliable rainfall, and fertile soil are ideal for a host of crops and livestock rearing. A number of kingdoms have flourished there for centuries, each developing rich ethnographic traditions strengthened and enlivened through cultural dialogue and exchange. Differentiating masks carved by these groups is challenging, in part because carvers are given significant latitude to refine their own signature styles. A Bekom mask is often identifiable as such because the atelier was prolific and its signature look particular enough to that family of carvers for the mask to be recognizable as properly Bekom. In other words, what makes it Bekom is not so much a shared set of features with all Bekom masks as its similarity to other masks apparently produced by a Bekom atelier; within the group of masks identified as Bekom, there is considerable variation.

This is a beautiful, well used mask. Ex NYC area collection. $825

14″ without base

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