Chimpanzee Mask

19th century

Kom Culture, African

Not On View

Chimpanzee Mask: 1 of Collection Gallery

Chimpanzee Mask: 2 of Collection Gallery

Chimpanzee Mask: 3 of Collection Gallery

Chimpanzee Mask: 4 of Collection Gallery

Chimpanzee Mask: 5 of Collection Gallery

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About the Artwork

The Kom people of Cameroon boast a centralized political system headed by a king and supported by a hierarchy of nobles. This mask, called mabuh, originally belonged to the Kwifoyn society, a group of the Kom elite that ensured smooth governance by enforcing the law, effecting royal summons, and arresting convicted criminals for execution. Although generally called a "monkey mask," the mabuh probably depicts a chimpanzee, given its massive, overhanging eyebrows and prominent teeth. The chimpanzee's precise symbolic significance to the Kwifoyn remains unknown. But the three forward-facing quadrupeds perched atop the mask may be leopards, dangerous predators that allude to the Kwifoyn's regulatory powers.

The mabuh plays an integral part in kingship investiture. This mask witnessed and publicly validated Kom King Jinapor II’s installation in 1976 before it was sold by a Kom prince to a European art dealer. It is decorated with highly treasured ancestral blue glass beads and European-imported seedlike beads. Both materials and the cowrie shells were previously traditional Kom indicators of wealth, thus alluding to the Kwifoyn’s prestige.

Title Chimpanzee Mask

Artwork Date 19th century

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. African

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Kom culture

Medium Wood, fabric, glass beads, cowrie shells, natural fiber

Dimensions Overall: 18 1/2 × 15 × 13 1/4 inches (47 × 38.1 × 33.7 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department African Art

Credit Museum Purchase, Ernest and Rosemarie Kanzler Foundation Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2016.2

Markings

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Provenance

(Entwistle France, Paris, France);
2016-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

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We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Kom Culture, African, Chimpanzee Mask, 19th century, wood, fabric, glass beads, cowrie shells, natural fiber. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Ernest and Rosemarie Kanzler Foundation Fund, 2016.2.