Helmet mask "sowei" of the "bundu" society · Sierra Leone, Mendé · ID: 3031434
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”.
L’objet Helmet mask “sowei” of the “bundu” society avec l’ID d’objet 3031434 a fait partie de l’enchère 72nd tribal art auction en 9 mars 2013 pour la dernière fois le Zemanek-Münster Hôtel des ventes et avait le numéro de lot 257.
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Littérature comparée
Mato, Daniel, Miller, Charles, Sande, Düsseldorf 1990, p. 125