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DISCOVERING the SANDE MASK Sande Society Helmet Mask Bombax Wood, Vegetable Fiber 16 X 8 X 9 Inches Vai People, Sierra Leone/Liberia

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DISCOVERING the SANDE MASK Sande Society Helmet Mask Bombax Wood, Vegetable Fiber 16 X 8 X 9 Inches Vai People, Sierra Leone/Liberia Traditional Work DISCOVERING THE SANDE MASK Sande Society Helmet Mask Bombax wood, vegetable fiber 16 X 8 X 9 inches Vai People, Sierra Leone/Liberia Current Location: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Currently not on display) Acquired in 1996 as a gift from Landon and Lavinia Clay http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true&id=4781&coll_keywords=Mende+Mask&coll_accession=&coll_name=&coll_artist=&col l_place=&coll_medium=&coll_culture=&coll_classification=&coll_credit=&coll_provenance=&coll_location=&coll_has_images=&coll_on_view=&coll _sort=0&coll_sort_order=0&coll_view=0&coll_package=0&coll_start=1 Five Major Sande Society Mask Characteristics 1. Large Forehead 2. Elaborate Hair 3. Compact Face 4. Neck Rings 5. Deep Black Color Characteristics Unique to Vai Masks 1. High Hairline 2. Geometric facial features 3. Neck rings accentuated on rear of mask VS MFA Mask Other Vai Masks R. Phillips 162, 164 VS MFA Mask Mende Masks R. Phillips 174, 176 Significance of the Features • Forehead: poise, self confidence, elegance • Closed/Slitted Eyes: hides personal identity, virtuous, modest woman, above earthly desires • Lips: seriousness, composed, in control • Hair: elegance, wealth, also helps identify level of mask (Elder mask, or Dancer’s mask) • Neck Rings: fertility, transition from child to adult, ripples of water Uses • Sande Society Initiation Rituals • Represents everything the Sande Society stands for, feminine ideals • When not in use, masks are on alters, costume is hidden away http://www.randafricanart.com/Mende_mask.html Sande Society • Is the only society known in Africa in which women are the mask wearers and performers. • Found in Mende, Vai, Temne, Gola, Bassa, Kpelle cultures in West Africa (Sierra Leone and Liberia specifically) • Fellowship of women, elder women take care of the younger • Teaches girls how to be wives Mende Women • Social values and morals http://www.randafricanart.com/Mende_mask.html The People The Vai http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/si http://www.lib.utexas.edu/map http://www.fbi.gov/headlines/sierraleone.jpg erra_leone_ethnic_1969.jpg s/africa/liberia_pop_1973.jpg The New Label Sande Society Mask Bombax wood, vegetable fiber 16 X 8 X 9 inches Vai People, Sierra Leone/Liberia The Sande Society is a fellowship of women found in West African cultures, which aims at preparing girls for adulthood. It is the only known society that allows women to wear and perform in masquerades. The mask represents the ideals of feminine beauty that the Sande Society stands for and is worn along with a costume robe and danced in Sande Initiation Rituals. Bibliography 1. Boone, Sylvia. Radiance in the Water: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende Art. New Haven: Yale, 1986. 2. "Mende Helmet Mask." Rand African Art. 21 Sep. 2008 <www.randafricanart.com/mende_mask.html>. 3. "Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Collections Search Results." Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Home. 18 Oct. 2008 <http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?coll_keywords=Mende+Mask>. 4. "Perry-Castaneda Map Collection." UT Library Collection. 18 Oct. 2008 <www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/sierra_leone_ethnic_1969.jpg>. 5. "Perry-Castaneda Map Collection." UT Library Connection. 18 Oct. 2008 <http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/liberia_pop_1973.jpg>. 6. Phillips, Ruth. Representing Women: Sande Masquerades of the Mende of Sierra Leone. Los Angeles: Ucla Fowler Museum Of Cultural History, 1995. 7. Phillips, Tom. Africa: The Art of a Continent. New York: Prestel, 1995. Pp. 473 8. Visona, Monica , Robin Poynor, and Herbert Cole. A History of Art in Africa. New York: Prentice Hall, 2007. Pp. 179-180.
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