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Source Description
Carved during their subject's lifetime, such idealized portraits function as their living stand-ins or intermediaries. Adorned with royal attire consisting of a bristled cloth cap, beaded necklace, pleated loincloth, drinking horn, and now-broken pipe, this figure was carved as a commemorative portrait of a historical king or high dignitary. It was kept by a secret association called <em>Lefem</em>, whose members gathered weekly in a sacred space in the forest to discuss matters related to the kingdom's welfare. Placed in a royal shrine, the figure witnessed sacrifices made to the skulls of the chief’s ancestors. Meant to safeguard the kingdom and protect the fecundity of its inhabitants, it was also exhibited during funerals and royal ceremonies.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
153765
label
Commemorative figure (lefem)
core
obj
dtoType
sculpture
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
153765
contentType
sculpture
title
Commemorative figure (lefem)
description
Carved during their subject's lifetime, such idealized portraits function as their living stand-ins or intermediaries. Adorned with royal attire consisting of a bristled cloth cap, beaded necklace, pleated loincloth, drinking horn, and now-broken pipe, this figure was carved as a commemorative portrait of a historical king or high dignitary. It was kept by a secret association called <em>Lefem</em>, whose members gathered weekly in a sacred space in the forest to discuss matters related to the kingdom's welfare. Placed in a royal shrine, the figure witnessed sacrifices made to the skulls of the chief’s ancestors. Meant to safeguard the kingdom and protect the fecundity of its inhabitants, it was also exhibited during funerals and royal ceremonies.
date
mid-1800s–1910
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79940023
creators
49917
genreSpecific
Sculpture
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 92.1 x 20.3 cm (36 1/4 x 8 in.)
cul
Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Bangwa Kingdom
accession
1987.62
Source extras
tec
wood
tombstone
Commemorative figure (lefem), mid-1800s–1910. Probably carved by Ateu Atsa (Bangwa, c. 1840–1910). Wood; overall: 92.1 x 20.3 cm (36 1/4 x 8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1987.62
collection
African Art
didYouKnow
Ateu Atsa was both a famous and infamous artist! It is said that he enraged a ruler by portraying him realistically rather than in an idealized way, and was chased out of town after the sculpture was revealed.
citations
citation
Petridis, Constantijn. <em>South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. </em>Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.
page_number
Reproduced: cat. 30, p. 90 - 91
citation
Lintig, Bettina von. 2014. “A Grasslands Beaded Leopard Skin.” <em>Tribal Art: Quarterly Journal of the Art Culture and History of Traditional Peoples and New World Civilizations</em> 18 (3) No. 72 Summer 2014 Pp 108-117.
citation
New Orleans Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Field Museum of Natural History, American Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, and National Museum of Natural History (U.S.). 1984. <em>The Art of Cameroon</em>. Washington, D.C: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, cat. no. 7, pp. 86-87.
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Henry John Drewal. 1989. <em>African Art : A Brief Guide to the Collection : The Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Museum, fig. 18.
citation
CMA Handbook, 1991b, p. 143.
citation
LaGamma, Alisa, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), and Museum Rietberg. 2011. <em>Heroic Africans : Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures</em>. New York, New Haven Conn: Metropolitan Museum of Art ; Distributed by Yale University Press, fig. 18, p. 130.
citation
Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1987.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 75, no. 2 (February 1988): 30–71.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 60; Mentioned: p. 70, no. 180
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 33
citation
Lintig, Bettina von. "From Fontem to Berlin: The Long Journey of a Bangwa Lefem Staff." Tribal Art 19, no. 3 (Summer 2015): 130-135.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 130, fig. 1
citation
Harter, Pierre. “Royal Commemorative Figures in the Cameroon Grasslands: Ateu Atsa, a Bangwa Artist.” African Arts 23, no. 4 (1990): 70–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3336946.
page_number
figure 5
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-30 11:07:34.552000
sourceId
153765
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
wood
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
6cb6f28fa5ae52fc