Bamenda Ceramic Shield, Cameroon

Black and white stripes lean to the left in a single, confident slant.

This shield is Bamenda, from Cameroon, Central Africa, and is contemporary, in wood and kaolin. The kingdoms of the Bamenda Grassfields are known for bold carving and strong visual design, and white kaolin is often used there to mark purity and ancestral favor. The form is a long, narrow hexagon, wider at the middle and tapering to rounded ends. Diagonal ridges cut across it from edge to edge, white over black, with a single sharp line setting off the upper section. It is 10 inches wide and 45.5 high.

A stripe with one idea, delivered at length.