Very rare helmet mask "a-rong-a-thoma" ("araung etoma" or "athoma") ·  Sierra Leone, Temne · ID: 3047015

Description

wood, pigments, rest.

“A-rong-a-thoma” masks were made exclusively by the Temne living in the town of Yele in Central Sierra Leone.

The masking tradition was owned exclusively by the Kanu royal family in Yele and was the responsibility of the ritual kingmaking association, “ragbenle”, an association whose membership was restricted to paramount chiefs and their advisors.

It appears annually in Yele at the beginning of the dry season and at other important ceremonial occasions such as the coronation of a paramount chief. It always seems to be danced in pairs.