MATERNITÉ BAMOUN (NAHFON)


Maternité Bamoun
Bamoun. Bronze. H: 78 in/198 cm
Provenance: Nji Gbetkom Salifou; Ex Royal Palace Rifum

The bronze masterpiece Maternité Bamoun, also known as Nahfon, is a powerful cultural symbol for Bamoun villagers of fertility, maternal protection, and the mother-provider. The cultural archetype of the mother-provider is a female who bears the nursing royal infant in her left arm, while carrying on her head the produce that will nourish the Tikar peoples as they emerge as a dominant force in the Cameroon Grasslands. This remarkable statue depicts Yen, the Queen Mother of the Bamoun culture, carrying Chare, the infant prince who would grow up to found the Bamoun dynasty.

By extension, the statue also symbolizes the role played by the Nguon secret society in the Bamoun royal court. Over the centuries, this group was responsible for collecting tribute from all sectors of society, ensuring food supplies for the Royal Palace, and the equitable distribution of harvests to all members of the kingdom. The secret society also oversaw the storage and protection of agricultural surpluses for use in times of drought or adverse weather. The harvest season culminated in a three-day festival, usually held in July and appropriately called Ngoun, which celebrated the generosity of the fields.

These annual redistributive celebrations were prohibited in 1924, the same year King Njoya was forced into exile. Both of these actions by the French were integral to their national campaign to erode Bamoun culture, diminish royal authority, and replace customary rule with their own colonial authority. In the context of this cultural and political repression, the creation of Maternité Bamoun represents a bold act of resistance aimed at defending the cultural foundations of the dynasty. The Ngoun society began production of the statue in 1930, commissioning a first mold under the direction of master bronze caster Nji Gbetkom Salifou. But the turbulent political situation in the Grasslands was such that the Nguon society had to postpone the final casting for many years. Finally, in 1945, facing a weakened French colonial power distracted and weakened by a decade of war in Europe, Master Salifou completed the final casting. This extraordinary statue celebrating the central role of women in founding and maintaining Bamoun culture was, until recently, a fixture of the Rifum Royal Palace.

Chief Mongbet Vessah Ibrahim and David W. Reed