Tribal Art

Monoxyl piece in carved wood covered with a fabric of rabane sewn with pearls and cowries, symbolizing wealth. The juxtaposed colors enhance the volumes and figurative motifs associated with chieftaincy and its myths.

Located in the border region of Nigeria, the North West Province of Cameroon, Grassland is made up of several ethnic groups: Tikar, Anyang, Widekum, Chamba, Bamoun, or Bamum and Bamileke. Several centralized chiefdoms, or kingdoms, based on customary associations, secret societies, are organized around the Fon which has broad powers. Among the Bamilekes of Sudano-Bantu origin, as in other ethnic groups, art objects testified to their owner's place in society. The seats, the ornamentation of which varied according to social status, were carved for current use or for meetings of Customary Societies.
("Les Bamiléké" R. Lecoq)