Masker's tunic
Artist Unidentified
mid-20th century
Object PlaceCameroon
Medium/TechniqueFiber, human hair
DimensionsOverall: 110 x 88 cm (43 5/16 x 34 5/8 in.)
Credit LineGift of Geneviève McMillan in memory of Reba Stewart
Accession number2009.2765
On View
Not on viewClassificationsTextiles
DescriptionThis tunic-shaped gown adorned with tufts of human hair is a common mask garment in the northwestern Grassfields. It most likely belonged to a male "leader mask" in one of the masquerades owned by extended families, but removed from its context it is difficult to assign it to a specific mask persona or chiefdom.
Provenance1970s, sold by Reginald Groux and Yasmina Chenoufi of the Galerie Noir d'Ivoire, Paris, to Geneviève McMillan (b. 1922 - d. 2008), Cambridge, MA; 2008, to the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation, Cambridge; 2009, gift of the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 17, 2009)
mid 20th-century
19th–20th century
AD 500-900