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Source Description
Hundreds of red tail feathers from the grey parrot (<em>Psittacus</em> <em>erithacus</em>) decorate this disk-shaped headdress. Only the king, some high-ranking individuals, and members of the all-male elephant society—known in different languages as Kuosi, Nekang, or Kem-ndze—wore this prestigious headgear at ceremonies and funerals. Typically, the headdress was worn pushed slightly back from the hairline. When used by members of the elephant society, it was accompanied by a cloth and glass bead mask (<em>mbap</em> <em>mteng</em>) in the shape of that animal, such as 1985.1082.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
165187
label
Headdress
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
165187
contentType
object
title
Headdress
description
Hundreds of red tail feathers from the grey parrot (<em>Psittacus</em> <em>erithacus</em>) decorate this disk-shaped headdress. Only the king, some high-ranking individuals, and members of the all-male elephant society—known in different languages as Kuosi, Nekang, or Kem-ndze—wore this prestigious headgear at ceremonies and funerals. Typically, the headdress was worn pushed slightly back from the hairline. When used by members of the elephant society, it was accompanied by a cloth and glass bead mask (<em>mbap</em> <em>mteng</em>) in the shape of that animal, such as 1985.1082.
date
1900s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79993770
genreSpecific
Garment
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Diameter: 90 cm (35 7/16 in.)
cul
Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Grassfields region, Bamileke-style maker
accession
2007.181
Source extras
tec
African gray parrot feathers, wood, plant fiber, probably cotton, string, and colorant
tombstone
Headdress, 1900s. Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Grassfields region, Bamileke-style maker. African gray parrot feathers, wood, plant fiber, probably cotton, string, and colorant; diameter: 90 cm (35 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Sundry Purchase Fund, 2007.181
collection
African Art
didYouKnow
This headdress has an ingenious built-in storage system: it can be flipped inside out to encase the feathers within a rigid woven structure, protecting them during storage or travel.
citations
citation
Petridis, Constantine. "New Acquisitions of African Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art". African Arts, 44, no. 1, (Spring 2011): 52-67.
page_number
Mentioned: p . 59; reproduced: p. 63, fig. 11.
creditline
Sundry Purchase Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:33:39.205000
sourceId
165187
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
African gray parrot feathers, wood, plant fiber, probably cotton, string, and colorant
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
e83350d8236b0b1d