This is the rating and price for Bamileke Batcham Wooden Helmet Mask

Description : West/Central Africa, Cameroon, Batcham region, Bamileke, ca. first half of the 20th century CE. An enormous, hand-carved, stool-shaped wooden helmet mask in the form of an abstract human head. The plateaued cheeks trace upward to narrow ovoid eyes and flank a narrow nose, with perky ears on either side of a wide mouth lined with thin teeth, and a stocky cylindrical neck serves as the base. The coiffure exhibits dozens of curvilinear striations which form layers of hair with added pink pigment. Several perforations line the neck and enable the suspension of a larger costume, and faint traces of pink and white pigment adorn most of the obverse face. Grandiose masks like this example were created as symbols of status and power used by the king and other members of high society. Dancers would dance this mask during funerary ceremonies of important individuals as well as at the end of harvest celebrations. Size: 11 W x 25.25 H (27.9 cm x 64.1 cm). For a stylistically-similar example, please see The Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, object number 2005-6-5: Provenance: Mark Clayton collection, Long Beach, California, USA, Mr. Clayton is a noted African expert and collector who recently had Nigerian bronze objects from his collection featured in an exhibition at the UCLA Fowler Museum entitled Summoning the Ancestors (September 2018 - March 2019). All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience. #145777
Price: 498.00 USD It's free to register now to view!
Estimate (low-high) : 800 USD-1200 USD It's free to register now to view!

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