An ancient olifant, a prestige object belonging to the tandia who wear them on their arms to summon members, carved with a monoxylean clasp at the back of the mouth and ending with an openwork sculpture of two Janus busts back to back, characteristic of the ancient arts of Grasland, evoking, according to P. Harter, the power of a multi-directional vision of its owner. For another Bamileke olive tree of the same type, see : Pierre Harter, Arts anciens du Cameroun, Éd. Arts d'Afrique Noire, 1986, p. 100, n° 125. Bamileke, Cameroon Ivory, superb and old reddish-brown patina of use H. 26 cm Provenance : - Milton Arno Leof Collection, Mexico City - Collection Nadine Vinot-Postry, Paris. Exhibition and publication : Sotheby's sale, New York, November 19, 1999, lot 305.