Helmet mask "sowei" of the "bundu" society
Sierra Leone, Mende
not available anymore
Provenance
Private Scottish Collection, UKSize
H: 46 cm
H: 18.1 inch
Description
wood, blackish brown patina, cylindrical form, a compressed, diamond-shaped face, crowned by a high towering fanciful coiffure with two birds and two snakes, slightly dam., cracks, paint rubbed off, rep. (snakes);
such helmet masks are commissioned and worn by women, although carved by men. They are associated with the education and socialization of young females, and their excision ceremonies are supervised by the “bundu” or “sande” societies. Senior woman wear these masks at the termination of initiation ceremonies in order to embody their patron spirit a persona of fecundity and grace, known as “sowei”.