Pommeau anthropomorphe

Anthropomorphic Pommel, Prestige Sword

This is one of the rare examples of a ceremonial weapon with anthropomorphic decoration in the Grassfields region. The origin of this weapon could be either Bamum or Bamileke. The figure’s spread legs act as the hilt of this nyi nja sword.

This pose is reserved for chiefs, and the hairstyle, bracelets and spirally coiled snake on the chest suggest this is a portrayal of a king or fon, despite the small breasts. The snake, more precisely the python, and other animals such as the leopard and the buffalo, were royal symbols throughout this region. Among the Bamileke, animal symbols are explicitly linked to the king’s power to transform himself into his animal double or pi. The Bamileke believe that all forest animals are the chief’s doubles, [1] but the snake who ‘lives in the sacred grove of the royal residence’ is frequently evoked in this metempsychotic context. [2]

But it is among the Bamum that the snake, especially the two-headed snake, is most frequently depicted in royal art. According to several authors, the bicephalous snake refers to the heroic deeds of the Bamum king Mbuambua, who succeeded in ‘striking enemies in diametrically opposite regions of the land’. [3] It was around the time of this Bamum king that the art of sculpting wood and above all forging brass objects developed considerably. Brass or copper was called la putu or ‘red iron’. A great many artists lived around King Mbuambua’s palace, including a certain Nkome, a famous metalsmith and a member of one of the peoples Mbuambua had conquered. Nkome taught numerous pupils the lost-wax casting process. [4] In the early twentieth century, as greater quantities of copper became available, this art reached its peak among the Bamum, whereas it had virtually disappeared in neighbouring chiefdoms. [5]

[1] Pradelle 1991, p. 194. Perrois and Notue 1997, p. 99.

[2] Perrois and Notue 1997, p. 117.

[3] Jeffreys 1945, pp. 8–9; Tardits 1980, p. 745.

[4] Geary 1982, p. 73.

[5] The king had the absolute monopoly on objects in brass, finery, pipes and emblems, which he distributed to his warriors or deserving notables. Njoya finally gave up this monopoly and liberalised the distribution and sale of brass jewellery and regalia after the First World War. This figurine can be compared stylistically to the figure crowning a military standard and the head decorating the top of a war bell, whose hairstyle is decorated with a two-headed snake. (Ibid. ill. I-2 and I-4.) As well as the similarity of their facial features, the ears of both figurines are in the same low position, at mouth height. In this Bamum and warrior context, the figure’s two shoulder bags could be mo pa fü pit, small bags for war medicine, which were worn around the neck. There are several examples of this type of bag in the museum in the Palace at Foumban, one of which belonged to King Nsangu, King Njoya’s predecessor. (Geary 1984, p. 184.)