{"secondaryobjectnumber":null,"periodterms":[],"creditline":"Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund","caption":"Artist unrecorded, possibly Bamileke, West or Northwest Province, Cameroon, Central Africa, Mbap mteng (elephant mask), early 20th century. Cotton, glass beads, raffia, and dye; 87.6 × 22.9 × 38.1 cm. Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund (2014-41)","cultureterms":[{"id":2041478,"culture":"African"},{"id":2041815,"culture":"Bamileke"}],"type":"artobject","dimensionsproposed":"","terms":[{"id":2048754,"term":"ceremonial objects","aatid":300234117,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2049151,"term":"beadwork","aatid":300053647,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2100263,"term":"rank","aatid":300250915,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2158055,"term":"elephants","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2087936,"term":"royalty","aatid":300188750,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2197880,"term":"societies","aatid":300026009,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2135237,"term":"masquerades","aatid":300254016,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2089652,"term":"dancers","aatid":300025653,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2135524,"term":"rituals (events)","aatid":300065284,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2129353,"term":"masks (costume)","aatid":300138758,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2041478,"term":"African","aatid":300015647,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2041815,"term":"Bamileke","aatid":300016142,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2043611,"term":"cotton (fiber)","aatid":300183670,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2168318,"term":"dye","aatid":300013029,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2151271,"term":"weaving","aatid":300053642,"termtype":"Techniques"},{"id":2044421,"term":"cotton (textile)","aatid":300014067,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2048485,"term":"beads","aatid":300234006,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2151290,"term":"dyeing","aatid":300053049,"termtype":"Techniques"},{"id":2151468,"term":"sewing","aatid":300053658,"termtype":"Techniques"},{"id":2044505,"term":"cloth","aatid":300162391,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2157849,"term":"beading (process)","aatid":300235440,"termtype":"Techniques"},{"id":2043581,"term":"fiber","aatid":300014024,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2161148,"term":"glass","aatid":300010797,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2043699,"term":"raffia","aatid":300014051,"termtype":"Materials"}],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: Africa, Cameroon, West or Northwest Province","code":"Place made","continent":"Africa","subcontinent":"Central Africa","country":"Cameroon","region":null,"state":"West or Northwest Province","city":null,"county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/2233387/republic-of-cameroon.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"Overall","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"87.62"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"22.85"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Length","units":"centimeters","dimension":"38.09"}],"markings":null,"accessionyear":"2014-01-01","newaccession":0,"makers":[{"id":22875,"displayname":"Artist unrecorded","displaydate":null,"datebegin":0,"dateend":0,"prefix":null,"suffix":null,"role":"Artist","displaymaker":"Artist unrecorded","displayorder":1}],"datecomputed":1914,"signed":null,"restrictions":null,"classification":"Masks","packages":[{"packageid":24690,"name":"web_African_Among_Worlds"},{"packageid":267983,"name":"Web_CA_2025_African"},{"packageid":167646,"name":"web_highlights"},{"packageid":278831,"name":"10282025-DAY1-ONVIEW"},{"packageid":197269,"name":"web_highlights -revised 2021"},{"packageid":282738,"name":"Bingo_Animals"},{"packageid":211430,"name":"PUAM_Materials and Techniques"},{"packageid":223066,"name":"Gallery_31_African"},{"packageid":204035,"name":"Teaching Kit Reproductions 8 1/2 x 11"},{"packageid":181965,"name":"web_2020_African"},{"packageid":76937,"name":"web_African_beading_2016-06"},{"packageid":193176,"name":"PUAM_Expressing Culture_African"},{"packageid":207234,"name":"SAB_Gala2021"},{"packageid":279982,"name":"Line_Color_Shape"}],"catalograisonne":null,"classifications":[{"id":2129353,"classification":"masks (costume)"},{"id":2048754,"classification":"ceremonial objects"},{"id":2049151,"classification":"beadwork"}],"exhibitions":[{"exhibitionid":1744,"citation":"Masked Rituals (Saturday, August 27, 1977 - Sunday, November 13, 1977)","isvirtual":true,"begindate":"1977-08-27","enddate":"1977-11-13","uri":"https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/exhibitions/1744"}],"cultures":[{"id":15629,"culture":"Bamileke","alphasort":"Bamileke","begindate":0,"enddate":0,"displayculture":"possibly Bamileke","displaydate":null}],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/STU00623"],"displaytitle":"Mbap mteng (elephant mask)","displayculture":"possibly Bamileke","displaymaker":"Artist unrecorded","captionhtml":"Artist unrecorded, possibly Bamileke, West or Northwest Province, Cameroon, Central Africa, <i>Mbap mteng (elephant mask)</i>, early 20th century. Cotton, glass beads, raffia, and dye; 87.6 × 22.9 × 38.1 cm. Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund (2014-41)","displaydate":"early 20th century","medium":"Cotton, glass beads, raffia, and dye","media":[{"id":150786,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/STU00627","isprimary":0,"rank":6,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":150805,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/STU00623","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":150806,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/STU00629","isprimary":0,"rank":3,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":150807,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/STU00625","isprimary":0,"rank":5,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":150808,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/STU00626","isprimary":0,"rank":4,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":206683,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/www.imodara.com/discover/cameroon-bamileke-mbap-mteng-elephant-mask/","isprimary":0,"rank":30,"mediatypeid":7,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Imo Dara - Mbap Mteng (Elephant Mask)"}],"displayperiod":null,"extended_content":true,"campuscollections":"false","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"Susan Bloom, <em>Masked rituals</em>, (New York, The Queens Museum, 1977).","citation":"Susan Bloom, <em>Masked rituals</em>, (New York, The Queens Museum, 1977)., cat. no. 22; p. 20 (illus.)","date":1977,"id":2795,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/3223610"},{"boilertext":"\"Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2014\", <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University </em>74 (2015): p.&nbsp;55-77.","citation":"\"Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2014\", <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University </em>74 (2015): p.&nbsp;55-77., p. 56 (color illus.)","date":2016,"id":5958,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/26388766?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents"}],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[],"department":"African and Oceanic Art","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199315,"term":"African Art","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"daterange":"A.D. 1900-1945","dateend":1929,"depicted":[],"titles":[{"title":"Mbap mteng (elephant mask)","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":null,"objectnumber":"2014-41","inscribed":null,"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Provenance","textentryhtml":"[Michael Oliver, New York, NY]; [purchased by Allan Stone (1932-2006), New York, NY]; [Sotheby's, New York: Collection of Allan Stone, Volume Two, May 16, 2014, Lot 41]; purchased via the above sale by the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ, May 16, 2014.","remarks":null},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Multivocal Label","textentryhtml":"<p>\n\tElephant masks are ceremonial artifacts exclusively worn by the <i>fon</i>, or Bamileke king, and his royal retinue during specific events. The\n\n\tzoomorphic characteristics of the masks are reinforced by royal insignia in the form of repeated irregular beaded isosceles triangles, believed to represent the “spots of the leopard.” During traditional ceremonies, the power attributes of the elephant and leopard are transmitted through the mask to its wearer. This process is achieved in synergy with ceremonial music, dances, and weapons.\n</p>\n<p><b>\n\tMurielle Sandra Tiako Djomatchoua</b>, PhD candidate, Department of French and Italian, Princeton University\n</p>\n<p>\n\tComparative image: Frank Christol, Members of the elephant society pose for a French missionary photographer in the marketplace of Bandjoun,\n\n\tca. 1928. National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC\n</p>","remarks":"AFR-CI_31-T2-1_WLA.pdf - Day 1 installation"}],"datebegin":1900,"sortnumber":"2014   41","published_date":"2026-02-11 14:12:17.055846","objectid":102729,"dimensions":"87.6 x 22.9 x 38.1 cm (34 1/2 x 9 x 15 in.)","on_view":true}