Prestige cap
This powerful headdress incorporates extensive additions of elephant hair along its edges and crown. The elephant is among the most commanding and formidable animals in the wilderness and signifies the utmost authority. Displaying elephant hair in clothing and bodily adornment symbolizes that the wearer wields the might of that powerful animal. As such, they were historically reserved for royal use among the Bamenda and their neighbors in the Cameroon grassfields. Referred to as ntcho (elephant) for their distinctive medium, such prestige caps were the exclusive prerogative of the fon (ruler).
Artwork Details
- Title: Prestige cap
- Artist: Bamenda artist
- Date: early 20th century
- Geography: Cameroon
- Culture: Bamenda peoples
- Medium: Elephant tail hair, glass beads, plant fiber
- Dimensions: H. 4 ½ in.; W. 8 in.; D. 9 ½ in.; Circ. 22 in. (11.4 × 20.3 × 24.1 × 55.9 cm)
- Classification: Textiles-Costumes-Accessories
- Object Number: 2025.831.18
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
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