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Ceremonial Palm Wine Vessel

late 19th–early 20th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 344
Palm wine is served at courts throughout the Grassfields as a gesture of hospitality as well as to cement alliances. There it is dispensed from sumptuously beaded calabash vessels by royal wives. The skilled bead artist responsible for this work assembled thousands of glass seed beads, manufactured in Europe, into a complex composition of geometric designs. He unified these through dynamic and inventive transitions. The spoked medallions encircling the vessel’s rounded body represent the earth spider, an arachnid that dwells in multiple realms and is associated with wisdom and divination. Diamond patterns adorning its woven base refer to the frog, a symbol of the fertility and prosperity that results from political stability. The summit culminates in a dramatic convergence of two opposing bovine heads and a vertical reptilian one, each baring finely beaded teeth.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Ceremonial Palm Wine Vessel
  • Artist: Grassfields artists
  • Date: late 19th–early 20th century
  • Geography: Cameroon
  • Culture: Grassfields region
  • Medium: Gourd, glass beads, cloth, cane, wood
  • Dimensions: H. 30 1/4 × W. 12 1/8 × D. 7 3/4 in. (76.8 × 30.8 × 19.7 cm)
  • Classification: Beads-Containers
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Gifts in memory of Bryce Holcombe, 1986
  • Object Number: 1986.336a, b
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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Helmet crest from a nja masquerade, Grassfields artists, Wood, copper, glass beads, raffia palm, cowrie shells, Bamum kingdom
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Ashetu prestige cap, Grassfields artist, Cotton, other material (?)
Ashetu prestige cap
Grassfields artist
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Headdress: Horned Animal Head and Mask, Urhobo artist, Wood, polychrome pigment, cane, beads, cloth, Urhobo peoples
Headdress: Horned Animal Head and Mask
Urhobo artist
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Lupona (royal seat), Ngongo ya Chintu, formerly known as the "Buli Master" Democratic Republic of Congo, Wood, metal studs, Luba or Hemba peoples
Lupona (royal seat)
Ngongo ya Chintu, formerly known as the "Buli Master"
ca. 1840–1870
Prestige gown, Grassfields artists, Cotton, wool, dye, Grassfields peoples
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