The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

An intricately beaded white, full face mask with two 1.5 ft. panels extending from the front and back of the mask. There are two round beaded discs attached to either side of the face.

Mask (mbap mteng): Elephant (aka)

early 1900s

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

Cotton, burlap, glass beads, twine, leather, and wood
Overall: 139.7 x 50.8 x 19.1 cm (55 x 20 x 7 1/2 in.)
The Harold T. Clark Educational Extension Fund 1985.1082
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Performers wore elephant masks with indigo-dyed robes, red feather headdresses, and leopard pelts. Leopards and elephants symbolized royal power.

Description

The name given to masks like this, mbap mteng, means "animal with huge ears." In the Cameroon Grassfields kingdoms, the elephant signifies power, authority, prestige, and leadership. The colorful glass beads that decorate the mask’s surface were imported from Venice and Bohemia (in Europe) and signal wealth and prosperity. Its geometric patterns include triangles that evoke the leopard, another animal linked with royal power. Members of Kuosi, an elite male society, wore such elephant masks for ritual dances and funerary ceremonies. This mask would have been worn with a costume that included a feather headdress
  • ?–1985
    L. Kahan Gallery Inc., New York.
    1985–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art by purchase
  • Dr. Kristen Laciste, "Elephant Mask (Bamileke Peoples)," in Smarthistory, June 7, 2023, https://smarthistory.org/elephant-mask-kuosi-society-bamileke-peoples-cameroon/. smarthistory.org
    "African Dress." HALI 224 (Summer 2025): 38-41. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 39, fig. 5
  • African art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 20, 2011–October 28, 2013),
    Object in Focus: Elephant Mask (Bamileke People-Cameroon). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 1, 1998-January 31, 1999).
  • {{cite web|title=Mask (mbap mteng): Elephant (aka)|url=false|author=|year=early 1900s|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.1082