Helmet mask

Description

Helmet mask of blackened wood, carved as a head with face and elaborate hairstyle, topped with a square pinnacle decoration and fringed with a few long strands of black raffia remaining at neck edge, Worn to represent the sowei spirit during masquerades performed by the female Sande Society: Africa, West Africa, Sierra Leone, Mende people

Museum reference

A.1949.173

Collection

World Culture

Object name

Helmet mask, Headdress

Production information

Unknown
Sierra Leone, Western Africa

Style / Culture

Mende

Materials

Wood, Raffia

Physical description

Blackened wood; fringe of hair and fibre around lower orifice

Associations

Ohly, Ernest (Ernst) Jacob Felix, 1920 - 2008
Ohly, William Ferdinand Charles, 1883 - 1955

Exhibitions

• Patterns of Life (29 Jul 2011)
  National Museum of Scotland

On display

national museum of scotland »
level 1 »
world cultures, patterns of life