Mask - Beads, Cowry, Wood, rope - Chokwe - Angola - 39 cm

This is a Pwo mask, a classic Chokwe mask that honors founding female ancestors. These masks are especially significant because the Chokwe trace descent through their mothers' lines. "Inscribed motifs on the mask's forehead and cheeks are classic graphic designs that aesthetically enhanced a woman's beauty in past generations and were signs of ethnic identity. The central cruciform on the forehead has been interpreted as a cosmogram. Chokwe masks are often performed at the celebrations that mark the completion of initiation into adulthood. That occasion also marks the dissolution of the bonds of intimacy between mothers and their sons. The pride and sorrow that event represents for Chokwe women is alluded to by the tear motif (The Metropolitan Museum) . This mask is 39 cm long, 21 cm wide and 19 cm deep. It has traces of use and age. Comes without the stand. Stand can be provided.