This headdress exhibits an unusual combination of woven and carved elements. The woven fiber cap, decorated with red and black abrus seeds, is surmounted by an open-worked wood panel adorned with painted motifs and attached feathers.

The headdress makes its appearance during rituals celebrated in December after a good harvest and also at the time of national holidays. Photographs of dances in which the Mboum perform show the headdress attached to a raffia wig, which has a long raffia beard covering the dancer's cheeks, ears and neck. Aside from these photographs, little has been published about such headdresses.

The Mboum, who numbered only 20,000 in 1917, live in a remote area where northern Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Chad come together. They are divided into several settlements, some of which have developed into states, where government and religious powers reside in the belaka, or chief.