The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 23, 2023

Fon Kuoutou being carried to War against the Manguot

1930s

Ibrahim Tita M’bohou

(Bamum Kingdom (Cameroonian), 1914–1977)

Africa, Central Africa, Bamum Kingdom, Cameroon

Paper, ink, watercolor

Paper: 49.5 x 63.5 cm (19 1/2 x 25 in.)

Severance and Greta Millikin Trust 2022.48

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Two objects depicted in this drawing—a processional statue and a pipe bowl—have real-life parallels in the CMA collection (1972.328, 1975.163).

Description

This drawing depicts a procession of men and women carrying the ruler Koutou (reigned late 17th–early 18th centuries) in a palanquin. Distinctive headgear and garments identify the courtiers and warriors, as does the hierarchical scale of figures. Drawn by M'bohou in the 1930s, it depicts the lead-up to the Bamum Kingdom’s war against the Manguot.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Auteur Ibrahim tita M’bohou _(initials?)_

Inscription Remark

Signed in pen and (same) black ink lower margin, right side, below decorative border: Auteur Ibrahim tita M’bohou _(initials?)_

Provenance
2005
Marshall Mount, by purchase in Cameroon, (co-owned by M. Mount and C.K. Mount)
2018–2022
Sole ownership to Caroline Katz Mount, United States, by inheritance
2022
(Amyas Naegele Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
2022–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Page, Donna. A Cameroon World: Art and Artifacts from the Caroline and Marshall Mount Collection. Bayside, NY: QCC Art Gallery, City University of New York, 2007. p. 30, p.89 (plate 42)
Exhibition history

A Cameroon World: Art and Artifacts from the Caroline and Marshall Mount Collection. Queensborough Community College Art Gallery, Oakland Gardens, NY (October 2007 - February 2008).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2022.48