ticketsMember | Make a donation

Tsesah crest

18th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 344
This majestic creation is at once massive and ethereal. A two-dimensional forehead soars above compressed volumetric features. The penetrating, boldly outlined eyes gaze heavenward. The geometric motifs that were densely inscribed across the upper part have been heavily eroded and only deep grooves are evident now. This work may have been a prototype for the extant tsesah corpus due to its age, scale, and fluid design. The extensive native repairs testify to its long life as an avatar of Bamileke royal power. Once it became too fragile to be used, a replacement example was carved and the decommissioned crest remained stored within its community.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Tsesah crest
  • Artist: Grassfields artist
  • Date: 18th century
  • Geography: Cameroon, Bamileke region
  • Culture: Bamileke
  • Medium: Wood
  • Dimensions: H. 37 × W. 32 1/2 × D. 11 1/2 in. (94 × 82.6 × 29.2 cm)
  • Classification: Wood-Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Acquisitions and Rogers Funds, and Anonymous, James J. Ross, and Marian Malcolm Gifts, 2017

  • Object Number: 2017.35
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Palace pillar with male figures and leopard, Grassfields artist, Wood, pigment, Babanki
Palace pillar with male figures and leopard
Grassfields artist
Late 19th–early 20th century
Palace pillar with female figures, Grassfields artist, Wood, pigment, Babanki
Palace pillar with female figures
Grassfields artist
Late 19th–early 20th century
Helmet crest from a Ngumba/Kwifon masquerade, Grassfields artist, Iroko (hardwood), pigment(?), Kom peoples, Tikar group
Helmet crest from a Ngumba/Kwifon masquerade
Grassfields artist
19th century
Lefem commemorative figure, Grassfields artist, Wood, organic matter, fiber, Bangwa
Lefem commemorative figure
Grassfields artist
19th–early 20th century
Head from a slit drum, Grassfields artist, Wood, Bamileke peoples, Bansoa
Head from a slit drum
Grassfields artist
late 19th century

Related Content

Perspectives

Articles, audio, and video from The Met's online magazine.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Grassfields artist - Tsesah crest - Bamileke - The Metropolitan Museum of Art