Bundu Mask Analysis

Victor Hoang /Jack Nguyen; Period 4 Art Analysis AP Art History; 2015-2016; Silvertooth
Title: Bundu Mask or Sowei Helmet Mask
Artists/Architecture: Made by Sande Society and Mende People, carved by a male carver
Date: Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries 250: Y
Period/Culture: Pan-West African, Mende
Location: Moyamba District, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Brooklyn Museum
Scale/Size: 39.4 cm x 23.5 cm x 26 cm
Patron: Sande Society; Sande Spirit
Materials: Polished and blackened wood, metal, pigment, cloth, raffia fibers
Techniques: Symbolism, Hand carved, Intricate designs
1. Subject Matter/Content:
This is an African mask strictly carved by males and specifically worn only by women in the Sande Society. The Sande was in other words an all women sisterhood where all girls would be initiated in and learn the ways of how to be a proper woman. The mask is made of wood and metal and is used in Sande initiations, on the occasion of solemn anniversaries, while exercising justice, and during funeral ceremonies. If they weren’t then they’d be sitting in the home of a woman, a proper member. The mask has an intricate, deep black sheen with a smooth and glistening surface, that contrast with the chalky white clay anointed on the Sande women. The Sowei mask was thought to be a female spirit that comes from the bottoms of rivers and lakes. The mask presents an ideal of feminine beauty admired by the Mende: elaborate hairstyle, full forehead and small facial features. The different elements that compose the mask feature the half-closed and lengthened eyes, the delicate contours of the lips, the slim nose, the large forehead, the complexity of the headdress and the presence of a neck which refer not only to aesthetic values, but also to philosophical and religious