The Face of Dynasty: Royal Crests from Western Cameroon
At The Met Fifth Avenue
December 4, 2017–September 3, 2018
As avatars of royal power and authority in Western Cameroon, tsesah crests by Bamileke artists stand out for their monumental scale and bold interpretations of the head. In celebration of The Met's recent acquisition of a rare eighteenth-century masterpiece, the exhibition presents this tsesah crest along with three examples drawn from other collections. Only fifteen works from this genre survive, and this presentation is the first opportunity in the United States to view a group of these epic creations together.
"... a thundering show." —New York Times
The exhibition is made possible by the Friends of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas: Art of Five Continents, with additional support from Kyveli M. Alexiou and Javier Peres.
In this MetCollects episode, Alisa LaGamma—Ceil and Michael E. Pulitzer Curator in Charge of the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas—discusses the recently acquired tsesah crest featured in this exhibition.
Crest (tsesah), 18th century. Cameroon, Grassfields region. Bamileke peoples. Wood, H. 37 x W. 32 1/2 x D. 11 1/2 in. (94 x 82.6 x 29.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Acquisitions and Rogers Funds, and Anonymous, James J. Ross, and Marian Malcolm Gifts, 2017 (2017.35)
