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Description

Large, round, wooden helmet mask. Hollow, dark brown-black wood with a small, triangular, frontal face and an elaborate coiffure on top. Slit cut-out semi-oval eyes; oblong nose; small, slit, curved mouth; cross-like mark on each cheek. The ears are crescent-shaped. Around the sides of the head, the coiffure has curvi-linear grooved designs. Above, at either side of the conically-shaped upper portion of the head, there are two u-shaped projections with a taller one at the front and the back. Around the lower portion of the head, there are four rounded, horizontal bands, the lower three of which go all the way around while the upper one of which terminates at the ears. A horizontal series of holes is around the lower band.

History Of Use

The sowei, or bundu, mask is made by men but are owned, cared for, worn, and performed as a dance mask by women in the Sande women's society, during girls' initiation camps. There they are prepared for marriage, trained in both domestic and economic pursuits and in singing and dancing. The masked dancers visit the camps to remind the girls of the ideals of female beauty and virtue. When the girls leave, they are considered to be women ready for marriage. During a dance, the mask is worn by a "ndoli jowei" performer, with a full costume concealing the dancer's identity. With their elaborately coiffured hair, neck folds and bright faces- they are burnished with palm oil before being danced- the masks express female ideals of beauty.