African Arts Gallery

Tikar Statue (N° 13294)

Ex-French African art collection.
The Tikars populate the western part of central Cameroon, which lies within the dense secondary forest of medium altitude, along the Mbam. Within this ecotone, the "plaine tikar" (named after its current occupants) is a depression that leans west and north respectively to the Mbam massif (and its Mapé and Kim tributaries) and the first foothills of the Plateau de Adamaoua. It extends to the east and south on a long drainage area of the main rivers of the central part of the country (Djerem, Sanaga, Benue). Ethnically, the current boundaries of the tikar country coincide with those of the Bamun in the west (Foumban), mambila in the northwest, Foulbé in the south, Babouté to the southeast (Yoko) and small individual groups (Djenti, etc.) scattered over its Borders. The structure of the kingdom consists of a large chiefdom subdivided into quarters: the residences of queens, children and notables. The notables constitute the hierarchy of the chiefdom. The ethnic groups that make up the populations of The Cameroonian Grasslands have produced an abundance of sculptures linked to the prestige of the fon and dignitaries of the various kingdoms. Bronze figures laden with many details exuberantly symbolize motherhood and fertility. This feminine effigy, a type of foster mother, surrounds her offspring with a protective gesture, which she wears on her knees. It is aneceed with a royal necklace, bracelets, and elaborate scarifications on the abdomen, the umbilical of which forms a bulbous prominence.