About the Work

This artwork, unique in its size, is charged with a historical significance that lends its intrinsic strong expression a special value.

What we know about this unusual horn, which is carved from a single elephant tusk, is that it was acquired in Cameroon by German Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) Arnold Lequis (February 2, 1861 – February 16, 1949) while he was stationed there in 1908 and 1909.

It is said that this royal insignia was a gift from Njoya, the King of the Bamum, to a German officer – possibly to Arnold Lequis.1 Lequis kept this memento well into his old age, but in 1947 Lore Kegel was able to purchase this magnificent instrument directly from him.

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Provenance

Provenances:
- Arnold Lequis (1861-1949), Germany
- Lore Kegel, Hamburg, Germany – acquired in 1947 from Arnold Lequis
- Boris Kegel-Konietzko, Hamburg, Germany

Literature

Published in:
- Himmelheber, Hans, Negerkunst und Negerkunsler,
Klinkhardt & Biermann, Braunschweig, 1960, fig. 231. P. 296
- Homberger, Lorenz, Cameroon Art and Kings, Rietberg Museum, Zurich, 2008, cat. 24, p. 142.
- Lore Kegel,
Exhibition:
- Museum Rietberg, Zurich, Cameroon Art and Kings, February 3rd – May 25th, 2008.