sowei (Helmet Mask)

Sowei masks are one of the few masquerades owned, cared for, and performed by women. 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. Their use and performance is regulated by Sande associations, which are entrusted with the initiation of young girls into adulthood. Although lacking the usual neck folds of the similar Mende masks, this triangular faced sowei does have the characteristically elaborate coiffure and downcast eyes that express ideals of modesty.

Cylindrical dark brown wooden initiation mask that pulls down over the head. Triangular shaped face with pointed chin, small ears, and rounded brow is carved into the front beneath an elaborately ridged hair style or headdress. The face is framed with a band of thin ridges, behind which large thick ridges and a crown ? run back to end in a circle of rounded knobs at the crown of the head. There are cut-outs at the eyes, a large opening at the back, and two bands of punched holes around the base.