Tsenya (head of a buffalo) helmet crest from a tseh-mepfeli masquerade
Membership in Mepfeli, one of the oldest Grassfields associations, is restricted to royal lineages. Its masks, called tseh-mepfeli, are charged with controlling the spirits of the dead, which are believed to haunt villages and the surrounding forests in animal form. Such masks appear during mourning ceremonies and may also participate in agrarian and fertility rites. The mighty buffalo, admired for its courage, is the most frequent subject of Mepfeli’s carved helmet crests. While some tsenya incorporate human or other animal features, this example presents the horned beast in its purest form. Its author has endowed it with flaring nostrils and an elongated muzzle. Crests in this style have been connected to the Baleng, Bandjoun, Batcham, and Dshang chiefdoms of the northern Bamileke region.
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