92 over the years, Christol’s photograph has a strong visual impact, providing an expressive, revealing picture of a distant place and time, even though it is most likely a posed composition taken outside the photographer’s house.8 The second photo known of Kwayep is completely different in character (fig. 8). Taken by Egerton when the artist visited Banganté in 1936, it shows Kwayep standing in strong sunlight, flanked by two youths, most likely his apprentices. The one on the left could be identical with the young man standing at Kwayep’s left in Christol’s photo. The sculptor’s head tilts slightly forward, and, although his face is partially shadowed, his earnest expression can be discerned as he stands with his hands on his hips. His lower body is swathed in a blue-beige “voluminous garment, half skirt, half loin-cloth”9 that was recognized locally as a sign of rank. In his writings, Egerton made a clear distinction between the “craftspeople” and the “artists” he encountered. He notes three local woodworking specialists who came to visit him in Banganté. The first was a carpenter, the second a carver of intermediate skill, and the third was Kwayep, whom he set apart from the others. Egerton had acquired two carved mortars from an acquaintance of his translator. One had its bowl supported by the arms of a female figure and the other had its bowl held up by a pair of male and female figures. Both were from the Bamileke chefferie of Bazou, which lies about twenty kilometers southeast of Bamena.10 Egerton says, “They had been very handsome, but the ants had been at them, and the second one was so dilapidated that it would not stand up. Joseph brought the Bamana sculptor to see them.”11 The Englishman described how Kwayep examined these artworks by another sculptor with great interest. “I could tell by the loving way in which he examined and appreciated them that this was not a mere artisan. He looked at them from every angle, ran his hands over their surfaces, and behaved, generally, like a connoisseur.”12 Egerton commissioned Kwayep to carve a caryatid sculpture similar to the damaged ones he already had. Neither Egerton nor Kwayep was happy with the final results of the commission, but the sculptor went on to carve additional objects for Egerton, which will be discussed below. Though from Bamena, Kwayep’s presence in Banganté was not at all unusual. Grassfields artists fell under the purview of the ruler of their home chefferie, but they could take on commissions from other clients. Some artists worked as itinerants and crossed ethnic boundaries, even going so far as to learn other languages. Some were influenced or inspired to try out new ideas during their visits to other locations within the Grassfields, while others were FEATURE
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