Pearl Figure

They are called "pearl" figures, masks, statues or any other object covered with beads or ceramic pearls. The art of pearl was reserved for royal families, with pearls or ceramic beads imported from Germany at the beginning of the century XX and large quantities of multicolored glass beads that were imported from Venice for centuries. For a time slaves were exchanged for glass pearls. Bamileké and bangwa craftsmen have been the great masters of this art, mainly those of the Sultanate of Bamun. They are cutting or real arts. Their originality consists in having introduced polychrome thanks to the technique of pearling or covering of statues with beads and multicolored beads. This art is exclusively reserved for the king, his family and some notables, as well as the art of forging and casting of metals. In all Grassland art and power were intimately united. It seems that some kings (fon) practiced the art of pearl.

Pearl statuettes appear in some ceremonies organized by secret societies to establish contact with the deceased in order to obtain their protection.

Large pearl statue with red, black, white and blue beads. The male sex does not represent any erotic connotation in African art, it is the symbol that dispenses life, of the fertilizing capacity for the continuity of the lineage.