Textiles & Costume
Headdress
Costume
Details
- Author / creator
- Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Grassfields region, Bamileke-style maker
- Object type
- Costume
- Date or period
- 1900s
- Dimensions summary
- Diameter: 90 cm
- Place of origin
- Africa
- Acquisition method
- Purchase
- Credit line
- Purchased with the V&A Purchase Grant Fund, 2007
- Fibres
- Cotton
- Plant fibre
- Feathers
- Structure
- Plain weave
About this object
Hundreds of red tail feathers from the grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) 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 (mbap mteng) in the shape of that animal, such as 1985.1082.
Materials and technique
African gray parrot feathers, wood, plant fiber, probably cotton, string, and colorant
