The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Helmet Mask

early 1900s

Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, possibly Kom-style maker

Wood, paint, organic material, and iron alloy
Overall: 33 x 63.5 x 41.9 cm (13 x 25 x 16 1/2 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William D. Wixom in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph M. Coe 1971.66
Location: Not on view

Description

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.
  • (Georges D. Rodrigues); Mr. and Mrs. William D. Wixom
    1971-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art "1971 Year in Review." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 1, cat. 21.
    African Arts 1972a, "New Acquisitions." African Arts 5, no. 4 (1972): 78, p.69.
    Sica, Emelia, Evelyn Mitchell, and Cleveland Museum of Art Department of Art History and Education. 1973. An Introduction to the Arts of Africa and Oceania. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, p. 8.
    CMA 1991b, Handbook of The Cleveland Museum of Art, 143.
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Henry John Drewal. 1989. African Art : A Brief Guide to the Collection : The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Museum, fig. 31.
    Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. Reproduced: cat. 31, p. 92 - 93
  • Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).
    CMA 1975: Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture, Sept. 24 - Nov. 16, 1975, cat. 95
    CMA 1972: "Year in Review 1971," Bulletin LIX (January 1972), p. 41, no. 21, repr. p. 38.
    Year in Review: 1971. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1971-February 6, 1972).
  • {{cite web|title=Helmet Mask|url=false|author=|year=early 1900s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.66