Ashetu prestige cap

early 20th century

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 344

The Cameroon grassfields region is home to over 200 independent kingdoms, including the Bamileke, Bamum, Bamenda, etc.). Within this diverse region, prestige caps play a vital role in communicating status and authority. Ashetu are distinctive among the vibrant array of headdresses for their incorporation of finger-like extensions arranged in styles that reference elite coiffures. They are worn exclusively by fons (rulers) and titled men in the Bamileke and Bamum chiefdoms. They wear ashetu at harvest festivals, initiations, and other state ceremonies to honor their ancestors and reaffirm social hierarchies.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Title: Ashetu prestige cap
Artist: Grassfields artist
Date: early 20th century
Geography: Cameroon
Medium: Cotton, other material (?)
Dimensions: H. (excl. tassel) 8 1/2 × W. 13 1/2 × D. 8 1/2 in. (21.6 × 34.3 × 21.6 cm)
Classification: Textiles-Woven
Credit Line: The Bryce Holcombe Collection of African Decorative Art, Bequest of Bryce Holcombe, 1984
Object Number: 1986.478.60
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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