Headdress

Item number Ae83 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Data
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Description

Dark brown wooden headdress carved in the shape of a bird. Furled, striated wings and triangular tail with grooves. Knob-like eyes. Carved beneath to accept head.

History Of Use

Regulatory societies (kwifoyn) consist of priviledged males. They have some political influence and perform various rites. Often they own a mask group, or a collection of masks for use in funeral or secret rites of the society. Members wearing the masks, faces covered with cloth, assume the mask's persona. The dances are highly ordered.

Cultural Context

Funeral dance headpiece.

Iconographic Meaning

Visibly represents a bird, one of the various icons found in mask groups of the Cameroons grasslands nobles. Its association with death (bird of death) refers only to its use at funeral rites.