96 the corpus of works that can be attributed to Kwayep. I believe another caryatid object, this one a stool supported by a crouching male now housed at the Reiss- Engelhorn-Museen in Mannheim, Germany, can, with some certainty, be attributed to Kwayep (figs. 15/16). It was collected by members of a German expedition in the Bana chefferie between 1911 and 1912).27 It is much less elegantly carved than other examples attributed to him, but the Mannheim example bears several telling similarities to the Cantor’s calabash stand and the Quai Branly’s maternity figure. It is seated on a low, rectangular stool with four legs that slants at about the same angle as the plinth-like structures on the maternity and other pieces noted below. The formal and stylistic relationships between the Mannheim and Stanford caryatid figures are most apparent when they are seen from the back, an area that is characteristically articulated into six sculptural fields. In the case of the male figure, deep furrows indicating the spine/buttocks, waist, and shoulder blades separate these sculptural fields from one another. This unusual articulation is also visible on Stanford’s female figure, though they are less distinct, which is in keeping with the overall more polished quality of the figure. An open mouth with sharpened teeth is apparent on both caryatid figures. When examined closely, the seemingly FIGS. 15 and 16: Attributed to Kwayep of Bamana, stool for a notable. Collected in Bana, Grassfields, Cameroon, 1911/12. Wood with poker work. H: 41.5 cm. Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim, Germany. Photo: Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen. designs seen on other objects that Egerton illustrated in his book that were carved in Kwayep’s workshop.23 Surface residue that still enhances its patina indicates that it was once rubbed with reddish camwood powder. Camwood (Baphia nitida), also known as African sandalwood, is a shrubby, hardwood tree commonly used to make an alkali-soluble red dye, which comes from the bark and heart of the tree. Camwood plays an important role in various sacred contexts in the Cameroon Grassfields, especially in sacrificial offerings, various initiation rites,24 and during the enthronement of a new ruler.25 Working in the nineteenth century, Italian art historian Giovanni Morelli strove to define the elements that most clearly manifest an artist’s individuality. The Morellian method found great interest with Sigmund Freud, and subsequent scholars and art historians have adapted it. The key to its analysis is artists’ tendency to repeat nonrelevant elements. It also holds that there are certain forms which can be related to the individual artist rather than being influenced by “school or tradition.”26 As morphological evidence, Morelli used the forms of hands, ears, and fingernails, for example. In order to identify additional works by Kwayep, I have considered ancillary details of this type, as well as the general sculptural aspect of works, and their similarities to works known to be by him. As a result, I would add four additional sculptures to
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