Helmet mask
20th century
Object PlaceSierra Leone
Medium/Techniquewood, fiber
DimensionsOverall: 39 x 21.5 x 23.5 cm (15 3/8 x 8 7/16 x 9 1/4 in.)
Credit LineGift of Geneviève McMillan in memory of Reba Stewart
Accession number2009.2632
On View
Not on viewClassificationsMasks
Collections
This helmet mask, representing a woman with an elegant coiffure, belongs to the paraphernalia of the Sande or Bundu women's medicine societies. Such societies prepared and educated young girls for womanhood. In the past, Sande and Poro (the complementary men's association), were important institutions among many peoples in West Africa. Women commissioned these masks and performed with them during masquerades, embodying the society's female patron spirit. The maskers conveyed the ideals of womanhood: beauty, grace, appropriate behavior, and fecundity.
Provenance1980, acquired by Geneviève McMillan (b. 1922 - d. 2008), Cambridge, MA; 2008, to the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation, Cambridge; 2009, gift of the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 17, 2009)
Artist Unidentified
