Feather headdress
"The Fon of Kom is best understood as the King. He has written a letter to the staff and management of the Seattle Art Museum. I want to say that the Fon of Kom is amazed by the fact that his culture and tradition could be known thousands of kilometers away from his kingdom-Kom is a long way and it took me two days to be here from Kom. He can say no other thing than thank you. But at the same time, he is trying very much to preserve the tradition of his people, which is fading away over the years.
"When images were sent to me by Pamela McClusky, Curator of African Art at the Museum, I formulated a questionnaire and a schedule of persons in Kom to interview. I must comment here that there are certain things I was able to learn from the findings just because I am a grandson of the palace, because my father is a prince.
"This palace has witnessed calamities. In the late 1950s, it was burnt. So, the Fon himself was amazed when I brought him pictures taken of the palace so many years back. He's learning to come up with measures that he can use to preserve his tradition. I think in his letter, he was talking about setting up a small museum, not an elaborate project, just a small museum where he can keep statues and other valuable objects in the palace so that our people, guests or visitors, can see the Kom traditions. Even in the younger generations, I would attest here that so many young people of my age--I am 27--have not gone to the palace. They have not seen the Fon. These have not seen most of these things.
"The most important elder I had talked to was Akan Combannee, who was born around 1925. He identified these pieces and told me lots of stories about the objects. I also talked to present retainer, Bobe Careless Anchang, who was born around 1930. These are the oldest living princes and members of the Kwifon, a sacred institution, the administrative arm of the palace.
"The last object named here is the headdress. We call it atwa nantan. It is made out of feathers and is connected to the music from the palace; it represents all the princes and princesses of Kom. This headdress is kept by every prince in Kom and to the sound of that music, everyone will put it on as a special costume for a performance or ceremony.
"On the headdress are the red feathers of the teroquo, a bird found mainly in the Ajun forest-it's a rare species, almost going extinct. The feathers are dropped by this bird and once we collect them, we use these feathers to recognize achievements by different persons in Kom. So it is like giving a medal to somebody who did something worthy." (Gilbert Mbeng, 2001)
Feathers and cotton
26 1/4 x 8 3/4 in. (66.7 x 22.2 cm)
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.754
Provenance: Collection of Paul Gebauer (1900-1977), Cameroon; sold to Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, by 1972; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981
