Mask (Mwana Pwo)
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Object Label
Mwana pwo (young woman) masks, danced by Chokwe men at festivals primarily for entertainment, are said to bestow increased fertility on the spectators. The masks represent female ancestors depicted as beautiful young women, with high foreheads, balanced features, filed teeth, and scarification. The scarification marks, which may duplicate those of the actual woman whose beauty inspired the carver, include the cingelyengelye design on the forehead. This cruciform design was probably derived from tin pendants traded into the Chokwe region by Portuguese voyagers as early as the seventeenth century.
Caption
Chokwe. Mask (Mwana Pwo), 19th century. Wood, 7 1/2 x 3 1/8 x 5 1/2 in. (19.1 x 8 x 14 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John McDonald, 69.168.2. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 69.168.2_PS2.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Mask (Mwana Pwo)
Date
19th century
Geography
Place made: Bachon region, Angola
Medium
Wood
Classification
Dimensions
7 1/2 x 3 1/8 x 5 1/2 in. (19.1 x 8 x 14 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John McDonald
Accession Number
69.168.2
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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