MENDE
HELMET MASK OF
THE SENDE WOMEN'S SOCIETY
12 " TALL AND 11 " ACROSS
100 + YEARS OLD. GREAT WEAR
EXCELLENT CONDITION
SMALL AGE CRACKS, GREAT WEAR .
********************
C.1900
Shipping is $ 23.00 + USA.
* 40.00 + INTERNATIONAL
INSURANCE INCLUDED
*" T are many secret societies in Africa. Some are headed by women, some by men. Sometimes the societies themselves are secret, i.e., no one other than the members know who belongs to the societies. In other cases, members are known to non-members, but the society has information and rituals that are known only to society members. The mask form is is found only in the female-only Sande Society of Sierra Leone and Liberia. The Sande Society is responsible for teaching young women the skills and knowledge they will need as adults. The society operates the schools that initiate young women into adulthood.Initiation schools may last for anyw from six months to three years ,depending on the country and ethnic group. The society is also responsible for enforcing the laws that are passed down from the female ancestors. Even the chief must obey the laws of the Sande Society. T is much misinformation printed about the society, largely because Europeans interpret the society from an outsider's viewpointThe Sande Society is found throughout Sierra Leone and Liberia. It is found among many people, including the Mende, Sherbro, Temne, Dei, Vai, Kpelle, Gola, Kono, Limba, Bassa, and Homwe. This exhibition will contain examples from several of these groups. The masks are helmet-type, i.e., they fit over the head of the dancer, rather than fitting only over the face. The masks are the property of the initiates themselves, and are worn at Society functions, at a parade marking the end of initiation, and at public festivals. At many public festivals the society holds a series of challenge dances at which each dancer attempts to out-do the others. All of the masks are carved by professional carvers who are men, even though only women are permitted toown the masks. The design for the masks must fit into prescribed stylistic parameters, or they cannot be used for Sande Society functions. In some cases, the particular details of a mask come to a relative of the initiate in a dream. The dream is then related to the carver, who translates the information into the stylistic elements of the mask. The masks are generally dyed a dark brown or black. On rare occasions, I have also seen white-faced masks. Holes are drilled around the bottom of the mask, through which are attached strands of raffia that are usually dyed black. The dancer's costume consists of a dark blue or black "dress-like" garment to which dyed raffais attached. The dancer wears dark gloves and stockings, as well as trousers. No one recognizes the dancer because she is covered from head to foot. The masks are carved from a wood very similar to balsa; this is doneto keep the mask as light-weight as possible. The weight of the mask is one of the characteristics used to determine how beautiful the mask is. Very heavy masks are most likely not carved for use by dancers. All the masks, regardless of the people who produce them, share some similarities. They are usually black or brown. They are helmet masks that fit over the entire headof the dancer. They are very wide at the bottom, w t are rolls that circle the bottom of the mask. While it is true that women who are fatter are considered more beautiful, for a variety of reasons, t is no evidence that women are expected to be as large as the neck rolls on the mask would suggest. Some authors say that the rolls on the neck represent fat; others indicate that they depict concentric ripples of water that take place when the Sande spirit, which is a water spirit, emerges from the lake or river. T may be some measure of truth to each of these theories, but the most often overlooked reason for the large neck, which is larger in circumference than the rest of the mask, is a matter of stylistic necessity. T...
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