Akauku Tee, Bamum Script of Cameroon

Modèle portant le tee noir Akauku, médaillon imprimé effet broderie aux quatre signes de l'écriture bamoun (Bamum script), Cameroon Grassfields collection par Bana Bilaka

Akauku · Grassfields Tee No. 01

£34.90

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In 1896, a king of the Grassfields dreamed that he had to write. Ibrahim Njoya then invented a script for his people, refined version after version, from nearly five hundred pictograms to the eighty-sign syllabary of 1910. It bears the name of its first four signs: a, ka, u, ku. The Akauku emblem carries those four signs, exact and in their modern form, in an embroidery-style print medallion on a deep black tee: a tall indigo cartouche edged in fine gold, the signs in ivory, set in a column like a coat of arms (the script itself runs from left to right). An African script born in a dream and perfected like a science. Dreamed one night, written forever.

What it means

The Bamum script was born in Foumban, in the Cameroon Grassfields. From 1896, after a dream, King Ibrahim Njoya and his court refined it version after version until the mature syllabary known as a-ka-u-ku, about eighty signs in use by 1910, taught in the schools of the kingdom and used for chronicles, letters and records. The four signs of this emblem are the first four of the script, the ones that give it its name, shown in their modern form; on the emblem they stand in a vertical column, a heraldic composition, while the script itself is written horizontally, from left to right. Around the medallion runs the tiger-teeth band of the toghu, the border that has spoken for Cameroon as a whole since the London 2012 opening ceremony: the signature of this collection.

After the textile and royal traditions of the Cameroon Grassfields: Bitoh et al., Art and Design Review, 2023 (toghu symbols); The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Michael Backman Ltd (ndop technique); Wikipedia “Bamum script”, Yale University Library and African History Extra (the Bamum script, 1896 to 1910); Open Restitution Africa (the return of Ngonnso, announced 27 June 2022); Voix des Jeunes (toghu, ndop, Bamenda).

Part of Collection 03 · Grassfields · The Signature. Emblem No. 01. Dikenga opened the house, the Manden gave it its law, the Grassfields give it its signature.

Fabric & Fit

Stanley/Stella Creator 2.0, 100% organic combed ring-spun cotton (GOTS-certified fabric), 180 gsm single jersey, fabric washed. Colour: Black. Medium fit, true to size.