Sande society mask (sowei)
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Caption
Mende; The Nguabu Master. Sande society mask (sowei), late 19th–early 20th century. Wood, pigment, metal, 15 1/2 x 9 1/4 x 10 1/4 in. (39.4 x 23.5 x 26 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Carll H. de Silver Fund, 74.64. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 74.64_edited_SL1.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Artist
Title
Sande society mask (sowei)
Date
late 19th–early 20th century
Geography
Place made: Nguabu, Southern Province, Sierra Leone
Medium
Wood, pigment, metal
Classification
Dimensions
15 1/2 x 9 1/4 x 10 1/4 in. (39.4 x 23.5 x 26 cm)
Credit Line
Carll H. de Silver Fund
Accession Number
74.64
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.
Frequent Art Questions
Masks like this one represent the Sande society's guardian spirit at public events such as funerals or the installations of chiefs. The features of the mask illustrate the group's ideal of feminine beauty, with a broad, high forehead, small narrow eyes, and an elaborate coiffure. The elegant hairstyles also symbolize the importance of social cooperation, since a woman needs the help of her friends to dress her hair.
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