The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 8, 2026

"Spider" Prestige Headdress (shüötu kam tet)

1900

Possibly Bamum style, unknown maker, Grassfields region, Cameroon

Cotton, natural dyes including indigo
Overall: 24.1 x 31.8 x 31.8 cm (9 1/2 x 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.)
Alma Kroeger Fund 2024.71
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Spider motifs are only used on royally connected objects in the Cameroon Grassfields.

Description

This extremely rare, deconstructed headdress has openwork that invokes the Mygale occidentalis spider (a kind of tarantula). This spider indicates the high status of the fon (ruler) and symbolizes traits of wisdom and truth. The carefully constructed textile mesh simultaneously evokes the spider and its web, a vessel for catching the dream-messages sent from the ancestral world.
  • ?–1997
    John B. Elliot (1928–1997), New York, NY
    1997–
    Estate of John B. Elliot
    Peter Koepke, Wappingers Falls, NY
    Andres Moraga, Berkeley, CA
    2024–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art by purchase
  • {{cite web|title="Spider" Prestige Headdress (shüötu kam tet)|url=false|author=|year=1900|access-date=08 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2024.71