African Bottles - Bamum Beaded Bottle

African art and masks from Cameroon. From the Bamum people of Cameroon, this elaborately beaded bottle is 26 inches tall with the stopper, and would be used as drinking vessel of the "Fon" (King). It is the type of sacred bottle traditionally kept in the Mbuembue room of the Nda Ngu palace in Cameroon. Named after Mbuembue, the 11th king of the Bamum who ruled in early 1800's, this room houses many of the most sacred objects of Bamum culture for safekeeping. A buffalo figure representing the "Fon" is incorporated into the base of the bottle. In former centuries the Bamum Fon was thought to have the power to change into any animal. Because the buffalo, leopard, and elephant were the Fon's favorites incarnations, these animals are often used in Bamum art to represent him.