Dish, bowl
20th century
Object PlaceCameroon
Medium/Techniquewood and metal
DimensionsDiameter and height: 30.5 x 13 cm (12 x 5 1/8 in.)
Credit LineGift of Geneviève McMillan in memory of Reba Stewart
Accession number2009.2585
On View
Not on viewClassificationsTableware
Collections
Kings of the Cameroon Grassfields used lavish visual displays to assert their status and wealth. Bowls and vessels were among the many objects commissioned by local rulers and skilled artisans would be paid, and in some cases given noble ranks, for their services. Bowls were carved with abstract geometric patterns and zoomorphic images that related to the prestige of the object's owner. Bowls of this type could be used as containers for food and beverages as well as for offerings to ancestor spirits.
Provenance1977, acquired in Douala, Cameroon, by 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)
