In the Cameroon grasslands, in the northwest of the land, each palace society of a local king, each large family clan, each town and each village has their own ceremonial dance group, the so-called ‘Juju dancers’. They perform at the ascension to the throne of a new king, at great ancestral feasts, at funerals, and festivals. They wear these masks, not in front of the face, but somewhat diagonally above on the head. The mask sits on the hair parting and the dancer looks out through a net below the edge of the mask. The present mask originates stylistically from the territory of the Bamileke people or Babanki. It is unusually old and shows the mask type ‘Kam’, which may only be worn by the cult leader of the Juju dance groups: with hairstyle and beard. The mask offered here is carved in relatively lightweight, brown wood and it was originally dyed black. In the hairstyle and beard, small traces of the once glued-on real hair can still be found. Yet, in spite of the erosion of the mask face due to age, one can still clearly recognise the strong expressiveness and the great talent of the Bamileke or Babanki artist, who created this mask a long time ago. A highly expressive piece, with charming age-related erosion, as well as with encrusted and shiny usage patina, particularly on the rear inner side, where the mask lay on the shoulders of the dancers for many performances, and where it was rubbed. H: 36 cm, W: 23 cm. Between the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. (ME)

Provenance: Hungarian Private Collection.