# Helmet Mask

- Date: early 1900s
- Medium: Wood, paint, organic material, and iron alloy
- Classification: Mask
- Dimensions: Overall: 33 x 63.5 x 41.9 cm (13 x 25 x 16 1/2 in.)
- Culture: Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, possibly Kom-style maker
- Credit line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William D. Wixom in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph M. Coe
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1971.66)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1971.66/1971.66_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Deliberately distorted and exaggerated facial features reflect the awesome powers of a great chief. The quadrupeds on the mask’s head suggest the close association between the leopard and the king. In the Cameroon grasslands, masks are typically related to a regulatory society that guards ancestral mores; society members wear the masks and dance in the secrecy of the night.