File:P4271408q left side detail Leather bound Buffalo Mask, Bamileke, Cameroon (10618422516).jpg

I have examined this piece very closely and there is really very little termite damage just under the horn on the left side. The pictures make it look very large as they magnify it a lot. Most lines on the mask are leather joins. The leather seems to have been glued down with some sort of thick resin. My guess is that it is plant based but I really do not know. I have added notes to the images to try to explain what I am seeing. The mask weighs 4.35kg which is not really heavy for the size. All of my pieces are shipped in sea containers which are fumigated before departure to ensure there is no further termite activity during the long hot & humid 3 month transit time to Australia. I do not want Aus quarantine to open the container and be greeted by flying termites. Once it arrives the whole container is fumigated again as quarantine do not accept any African fumigation companies. We have no termites in Tasmania. So there is no chance that there will be any further termite activity unless they are reinfected in another place where termites are active.

It is carved from wood and is bound with old weathered and very hard cow leather nailed to the wood. The leather has cracked and worn and has a beautiful blackened and encrusted patina which i believe indicates extensive use over time.

I collected it in the Cameroon Grassfields in 2009. It measures 83 x 30 x 22cm

It comes with the custom built steel stand.

This information is from Sotheby's - Paris auction notes 2005

Among the zoomorphic masks of the Cameroon Grasslands, buffalo masks are considered the most powerful: 'symbols of force, of courage and of power', according to Harter (1986:44). In the Grasslands, just as amongst their neighbors, (Duala, Mama), the buffalo is a symbol of the chief. Therefore, according to Harter ( ibid.) the buffalo hunt was reserved only for the fon (king) in the Grasslands. Amongst the Bamum, the buffalo mask was the first to appear at the annual festival, nja, expressing ' solidarity, wealth and the social role of the Bamum' (Geary, 1984: 138-142). The buffalo helmet mask was worn by a nephew of the king, chosen as 'the preferred servant of the court' (ibid.).

While buffalo masks are found throughout the entire Grasslands in Cameroon, few representations of buffalo are known from the Bamileke. According to Harter (1986 : 45), "Within the Bamiléké tribe, aside for the numerous masks representing horned anthropomorphic creatures meant for a portion of the ku n'gan society, the bovine masks are rare and, in general, unique to each tribe. The buffalo helmet served only for the one who represents the fon during the ngou dance ". .

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Further information or more images of individual pieces please contact:

Ann Porteus Sidewalk Tribal Gallery 19-21 Castray Esplanade, Battery Point 7004 Hobart Tasmania Australia ann@sidewalkgallery.com.au sidewalktribal.com t: 613 6224 0331

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