Very beautiful wooden Batcham seat mask from western Cameroon

Height: 32 cm, width: 20 cm

The Batcham mask

The Batcham mask is undoubtedly the most famous Cameroonian mask (and which, incidentally, regularly breaks records in specialized sales)

Both a mask and a seat, the Batcham mask owes this notoriety to its very particular and complex shape executed around two axes, vertical and horizontal:

On the vertical plane, the mask is deployed around two symmetrical parts separated by a median crest, each part being decorated by parallel arched furrows that represent the eyebrows. The eyes are positioned at the level where the second plane is articulated; large and oval in shape, "they recall those of batrachians, with a strange and disturbing fixity, open to the universe of death" (according to Louis Perrois in "la panthère et la mygale")

On the horizontal plane, two prominent cheeks surround an enormous mouth, open and hollowed out with vertical grooves that represent the teeth. The two ears are thrown back and the nostrils are impressive. "The originality of this mask, still according to Louis Perrois, lies in the dynamism and the desired contrast of the different volumes and especially of the planes that structure them".

If its name refers to the place where the first copy was found, it is in fact present throughout western Cameroon, where the "Ba ethnic groups" are present: Bamiléké, Bamoun, Bafoussam, Bamenda, etc. The term mask is also not the most appropriate since it was generally carried at arm's length or used as an object of prestige (to receive visitors), sometimes still used as a seat...

It could be large, up to 1.40 m, or even more, and it was then used during village festivals: Held by two or three bearers, it was used to carry the chief, seated on this particular type of throne, in order to parade him among the assembly. Its particular appearance also made it a prestigious object intended to impress the visitor.

Smaller "masks" were also sculpted which served as decoration or also, according to some sources, as seats for children during circumcision ceremonies.

It is one of these "small" seats that we are offering here which presents all the characteristics mentioned above.