The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 28, 2023

Headdress

1900s

Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Grassfields region, Bamileke-style maker

African gray parrot feathers, wood, plant fiber, probably cotton, string, and colorant

Diameter: 90 cm (35 7/16 in.)

Sundry Purchase Fund 2007.181

Location

not on view

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.

Description

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.

Provenance
2007
(Jacques Hautelet, La Jolla, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
2007-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Petridis, Constantine. "New Acquisitions of African Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art". African Arts, 44, no. 1, (Spring 2011): 52-67. Mentioned: p . 59; reproduced: p. 63, fig. 11. ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org
Exhibition history

Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 108): May 17, 2010 - June 20, 2011.

Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 108): October 20, 2014 -

African art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 17, 2010-June 20, 2011).

African art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 20, 2014-October 19, 2015).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2007.181