KWAYEP FIGS. 20 and 21: Stool with animal/human support. Banka Kingdom(?), Grassfields, Cameroon. C. 1930s. Wood. H: 45.7 cm Drs. Marian and Daniel Malcolm Collection. Photo: Paul Mutino. Courtesy of the Neuberger Museum of Art. 99 ilarities to Kwayep’s other works. The arms, for instance, resemble the elongated limbs observed on the female figure of the Cantor’s calabash holder, on the Manheim male caryatid stool, and the maternity figure at the Quai Branly. The proportions of the figure have a very particular harmonious rhythm and flow. The head, however, is not as well executed as those of the other figures, and the face is less expressive, but structural similarities, especially with the human/animal stool discussed above, are nonetheless present. The oval shape of the skull and the somewhat lengthened back of the head as well as the cheeks are noteworthy. But the manner in which the line of the spine runs on this sculpture and the way in which it connects in an angular fashion to the buttocks when seen from profile, as well as the angled connection of the figure to the seat itself, are especially important. All of these characteristics are hallmarks of Kwayep’s works. Unfortunately, the location of this interesting work is unknown. Grassfields artists’ workshops and the objects that individuals within them produced have an economic dimension as well as a social and cultural one. As Kwayep’s example demonstrates, artists filled local commissions—in this case, those of a Western visitor—and were responsive to requirements made of them, in addition to the expectations of those who commissioned these pieces. It cannot be said with absolute certainty that the “white” female calabash caryatid figure and the black and white caryatid figures made for Egerton were actually executed by Kwayep because he may have passed the work on to apprentices or colleagues carving in the same workshop.32 Stylistically, it seems likely that these were carved by others, though certain elements, such as the carved motifs on the upper edges, clearly tie them to Kwayep, as, of course, does Egerton’s account. Another stool illustrated as pl. 70 in African Majesty shares certain affinities in facial elements and edge decoration with the calabash stand and stool that Kwayep produced for Egerton but is even more distant from the style that can be associated with his own hand. This further reinforces the case for the latter two being workshop carvings. The seated boy bears a much stronger resemblance to works believed to have been carved by Kwayep himself. As already mentioned, besides Kwayep, Egerton met two other craftsmen. It is significant for our understanding of the workshops that these two individuals also claimed to owe their techniques to the Bawok workshops.
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