sowei mask

unrecorded Mende artist, artist

sowei mask, late 1800s–early 1900s

Where object was made: Sierra Leone or Liberia

Material/technique: staining; carving; wood

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 42 x 22.5 x 23 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 16 9/16 x 8 7/8 x 9 1/16 in

Credit line: Gift of Larry W. Welling

Accession number: 2007.2920

Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"For Life's Sake: Arts from Africa," Oct-1983, Reinhild Kauenhoven Janzen
The Sande society mask is one of few African masks reserved for use by women. In Mende and related ethnic groups in Sierra Leone and Liberia, the Sande society, composed of mature women, is responsible for the initiation of girls into adulthood. Participation in initiation schools is considered essential training for marriage, procreation and adult life. Upon completion of the girls' training they are returned to their village in a procession led by the chief Sande leader. She wears a blackened and polished carved helmet mask to which is attached a costume of black fibers, stockings and gloves. The mask, which embodies the women's guardian spirit, reflects the ideal of feminine beauty: a high forehead, diamond-shaped face, lustrous skin, an elaborate hairstyle and dignified bearing. Aesthetic ideals express the moral ideals of uprightness and serenity.

Exhibit label, date unknown:
The helmet masks, commissioned from a specialist and owned by a woman of the Sande society, embodies the society's guardian spirit, Nowo. It is one of the few African masks reserved for use by women. Nowo's mask is also a tool for learning. The high smooth forehead, the composure of fine features, and the stylish coiffure express the initiation society's ideal of beauty, comportment, moral uprightness, serene womanhood. A black raffia cape, covering the dancer's body, completes the mask.