Beaded Red Headdress - Tribal Art
This exquisite headdress is luxuriously decorated with black and red beads in a captivating concentric diamond pattern. The combination of round and cylindrical beads generates an enthralling relief which is further complemented by the use of cowrie shells along the rim of the headdress. Atop the headdress stands an exquisitely crafted felid whose tail hangs off the backside and is delightfully decorated with cowrie shells.
Dimensions approx. 32 x 19 x 28 cm
Beaded art from the Cameroon Grasslands collected between 1985 and 2005. Rulers throughout the many Kingdoms in the Cameroon Grassland region (Bamileke –Bamum -Tikar) employed a range of Regalia to assert their political, economic and religious power. Presented publicly in lavish displays of wealth and power, many court objects were distinguished by their elaborate bead embroidery. Imported from Venice, Bohemia or Amsterdam, glass beads were considered a luxury material whose use and distribution were controlled by the King. The decoration of objects with vast quantities of brilliantly colored beads transformed utilitarian objects into symbols of royal status and prestige.
All lots are in the state the collector acquire them. No restorations or cleaning has been performed.
321