African Arts Gallery

Colors and chiefdoms in African art.
This sculpted figure ("N'Kétuok") of a male royal ancestor was carved from wood then wrapped in rabane cloth inlaid with imported glass beads.
Among the Bamiléké as in other ethnic groups, art objects testified to the place of their owner in society. Thus, the materials and shapes of objects varied according to social status. King Bamiléké, also called fon, guarantor of soil fertility and the protection of his subjects, was not considered mortal. As a result, his funeral was a joyous celebration, the fon merely physically retiring but still watching over his people from his new home. Located in the border region of Nigeria, the North-West province of Cameroon, Grassland  is made up of several ethnic groups: Tikar, Anyang, Widekum, Chamba, Bamoun and Bamileke . Several centralized chiefdoms, or kingdoms, based on customary associations, secret societies, are organized around the Fon who would have broad supernatural powers including that of being able to transform into animals such as the python, the elephant, leopard, or buffalo.