id:			165187
accession number:	2007.181
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2007.181
updated:		2023-03-20 10:12:18.735000

Headdress, 1900s. Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Grassfields region, Bamileke-style maker. African gray parrot feathers, wood, plant fiber, probably cotton, string, and colorant; diameter: 90 cm (35 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Sundry Purchase Fund 2007.181

title:				Headdress
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1900s
creation date earliest:		1900
creation date latest:		1950
current location:		
creditline:			Sundry Purchase Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Grassfields region, Bamileke-style maker
technique:	African gray parrot feathers, wood, plant fiber, probably cotton, string, and colorant
department:	African Art
collection:	African Art
type:		Garment
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Diameter: 90 cm (35 7/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		African art rotation
	opening date:   2010-05-17T04:00:00
	<i>African art rotation</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 17, 2010-June 20, 2011).

	title:		African art rotation
	opening date:   2014-10-20T04:00:00
	<i>African art rotation</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 20, 2014-October 19, 2015).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 108): May 17, 2010 - June 20, 2011.<br><br>Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 108): October 20, 2014 -

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PROVENANCE

	(Jacques Hautelet, La Jolla, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: 2007
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 2007-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
This headdress has an ingenious built-in storage system: it can be flipped inside out to encase the feathers within a rigid woven structure, protecting them during storage or travel.

digital description:


wall description:
Hundreds of red tail feathers from the grey parrot (<em>Psittacus</em> <em>erithacus</em>) decorate this disk-shaped headdress. Only the king, some high-ranking individuals, and members of the all-male elephant society—known in different languages as Kuosi, Nekang, or Kem-ndze—wore this prestigious headgear at ceremonies and funerals. Typically, the headdress was worn pushed slightly back from the hairline. When used by members of the elephant society, it was accompanied by a cloth and glass bead mask (<em>mbap</em> <em>mteng</em>) in the shape of that animal, such as 1985.1082.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Petridis, Constantine. "New Acquisitions of African Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art". African Arts, 44, no. 1, (Spring 2011):  52-67.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p . 59; reproduced:  p. 63, fig. 11.
	url:		https://ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/7021560093

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2007.181/2007.181_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2007.181/2007.181_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2007.181/2007.181_full.tif