THE SABDE SOCIETY MASKS OF THE MEMDE OF SIERRA LEOUE A thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D. in the Faculty of Arts of the University of London Ruth B. Phillips School of Oriental and African Studies University of London April 1979 ProQuest Number: 10731603 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10731603 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 2 The Sande society masks of the Mende of Sierra Leone Ruth B . Phillips Abstract The dissertation is a monograph on the sowei (or bundu) masks of the Mende of Sierra Leone. Its aim is to provide information which will aid in the understanding of its symbolic forms and in the appreciation of its aesthetic qualities. The sowei masker personifies the sacred spirit of the Sande, a women’s secret society, into which all Mende girls are initiated at puberty and which marks the transi­ tion from child to adult. Masking figures prominently in its public ceremonies and although the general features of the society have been studied no detailed information about the ritual context of masking has been made available. The first section of the thesis therefore describes Mende masking in general and the specific ritual context of Sande society masking in particular. The role of the carver in Mende society, his repertory, the mythological structure for the creation of sowei masks and the system of patronage are also described in order to present information essential to the art-historical investigation of the sowei mask which is the focus of the thesis. Several hundred sowei masks were documented photographically in the field. This sample includes a core group of eighty masks from one chiefdom in central Mendeland which was studied in depth to provide a basis for comparison of regional variation in iconographic motifs, ritual usage, and carving style. The iconography of the mask Is analysed and with the use of early field photographs, old masks, and informant interviews several motifs are identified which have been misinterpreted in the literature. A further analysis of the personal names given to the sowei masks shows that these names repeatedly refer to certain central ideas which elucidate the symbolic meanings of the masks. Finally, the forms,! stylistic range of the sowei mask is studied. This discussion is based on a study of masks in museum collections as well as on field material. Regional variation in carving style as well as changes over the last one-hundred years are described, and the stylistic characteristics of the Gola, Vai, Sherbro-Bullom, Kpa-, Ko-, and Sewa Mende are identified. An analysis of the eighty masks from the core area permits an examination of the degree of variation found within one chiefdom and the ways in which individual artists respond to the positive value which the Mende place on innovative carving on the one hand, and the necessity of adhering to traditional norms on the other. 3 Table of Contents Page No. Preface 4 Chapter 1. Introduction 13 Chapter 2. Masking among the Mende 38 Chapter 3. Masking in the Sande Society 7^ Chapter U. Carvers and Patrons 102 Chapter 5. The Iconography of the Sowei Mask 137 Chapter 6 . The Nomenclature of the Sowei Mask l6l Chapter 7. The Style Grouping of Sowei Masks (l): the Yai, Gola, and Sherbro 182 Chapter 8. The Style Grouping of Sowei Masks (II): the Mende 217 Conclusions 263 Appendix 1: Sowei Mask Names 266 Appendix 2 : General Glossary 278 Bibliography 282 A Note on the Dating of Field Material 292 List of Figures and Captions 29^ Explanatory Note to the Catalogue 297 Catalogue of Sowei and Gonde Masks 299 k Preface The focus of the study presented on the following pages is the sowei (or hundu) mask used in the rituals of the Sande society of the Mende of Sierra Leone. This type of mask is of particular interest within African art both because it is the only documented mask which is worn by women and because it is the most important object made by Mende woodcarvers. Although the sowei mask has attracted the interest of ethnographers in the past it has not previously been the subject of a full-scale art-historical study. Fortunately excellent ethnographic studies of the Mende have already been done, principally by Professor Kenneth Little, and such background is indispensable for work in art-history. As a service to the reader the broad outlines of Mende culture and history are summarized in the introduction, along with a discussion of the major sources for a specialized study of carving. In the course of this study it was necessary to investigate further certain specific aspects of Mende society which are important for the understanding of iconography and aesthetic values and which are dealt with only briefly by Little and other writers. The object is not so easily divorced from its context in Africa as in Europe not only because It is often so closely tied to ritual, but also because of our ignorance of the mundane details of everyday life in an exotic culture. To understand the symbolic ’load’ of the sowei mask and the conditions which helped to id 5 dictate its stylistic range it is necessary to investigate first the process of masking among the Mende as a ■whole and more specifically the role and activities of the Sande society itself. This information is discussed in Chapters 2 and 3. Although the art-historian in pursuit of this contextual understanding must use anthropological rather than historical methodology he has an advantage over the student of European art in being able to interview the makers and users of objects rather than depending on mute archives and libraries. To this advantage is counterposed the lack of time depth of his sample of objects which has frequently led to scepticism about the ’historical' nature of studies of much ethnographic art. While it is certainly true that most researchers dealing with objects made of perishable materials from tropical climates cannot hope to assemble a sample' extending much beyond a hundred years, the possibilities which do exist for accurate dating within that sample both in the field and in museum collections have often been overlooked. It is here that art-historical methods can make a significant contribution to the study of ethnographic art. In the present study I hope to show that systematic museum work and fieldwork are complementary, each source supplying gaps in the other. Museum collections, although they usually lack hard data about specific provenance, provide firm dates of acquisition. Carvings documented in the field, although often difficult to date accurately, can be Identified with precise locations. Even in the field, it should 6 "be noted, it is often possible to attach quite accurate dates to carvings by asking informants to estimate age in relation to well- remembered events such as wars, earthquakes, and the reigns of local chiefs, or to events in their own personal lives such as Poro and Sande initiation or marriage. The examination of the combined sample of sowei masks assembled and dated from museum collections and from fieldwork shows a development in style even within the one-hundred year span represented which illuminates the way in which a traditional art such as that of the Mende has responded to changing conditions. Some more specific notes on the research methods adopted will enable the reader better to understand my approach in the following pages. Research was begun on museum collections in 1971* Questionnaires were sent out to British, Continental, and American museums regarding their holdings in Mende and related wood carvings In the course of 1970 and 1971 I visited the major collections to photograph and document their pieces, and where this was not possible photographs were ordered. This preliminary research revealed a number of problems in the attribution of the sowei mask arising from the fact that closely related and sculpturally very similar masks are used by peoples bordering on the Mende, the most prominent of whom are the Sherbro-Bullom, Vai, and C-ola. And, as has been mentioned, discussions of the mask in the existing literature deal very superficially with the iconography and specifi 7 ritual function of the sowei mask. Fieldwork in Sierra Leone was carried out between March and June 1972 and between September and November 1972. As then conceived the major aims were to investigate the iconography and symbolism of the mask, and to define as far as possible the stylistic tradition or traditions, both geographical and historical, to which the sowei belongs. It is no doubt a common experience of researchers in ethnographic art that direct contact with traditional arts causes shifts within the original plan of study. Unsuspected sources of information present themselves and expected areas of investigation prove unfruitful. I took with me to the field a selection of photographs of masks and other carvings in museum collections which displayed the iconographic and stylistic range of the pieces. I used these pictures as an initial basis for discussion with informants and they invariably proved a source of great interest and enjoyment.