The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Helmet Mask

Helmet Mask

early 1900s
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
  • 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=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

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