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Helmet Mask (Zogbe)
Select the thumbnail image above to view full-size image of the mask (approx. 125 kb). © This image is copyright, Harn museum. Please do not download or create any links to this image. I have the permission of the Harn Museum to "publish" it here, and hope that viewers will respect the wishes of its curators by resisting the temptation to copy or transform and distribute it in any way. Excerpt from: Poynor, Robin. 1995. African Art at the Harn Museum: Spirit Eyes, Human Hands. pp. 185-191.The Sande society, found among several groups in Sierra Leone and Liberia, is a women's society that functions to initiate and socialize women. The name for the society varies among ethnic groups. The Mende term Sande is used more often than the alternative Temne term Bondo. Sande/Bondo is an institution that is central to the community, exerting spiritual, economic, social, and political power. Its higher offices are hereditary. Each group is led by a powerful woman who has control over the "medicine," or halei, a sacred power given by a supreme being. She also controls the masks. Initiation of girls takes place outside the limits of the village. Here they are taught basic female values and trained for marriage, domestic life, and economic pursuits. They are also trained in the mysteries of the women's society and taught its songs and dances. Public masquerades provide a means of mediating between the society and the community in general. Other people are kept abreast of the stages of initiation and important events in the secret domains of Sande through the masquerade and are thus allowed carefully limited participation in the experiences of the members. The masqerade also makes visible the powerful halei of Sande without revealing the essential mysteries. Participants and audience are drawn into a common experience, providing a sense of harmony and unity that offsets the threat of disunity and division that is suggested by the division of the community into separate secret factions. At the same time, the masquerade serves to remind of the powers that the society has at its disposal, should any male decide to threaten it or a member. The masquerade of Sande is called Nowö. Although the term Sowö is used by the Mende today, Frederick Lamp suggests that Nowö may be an older term used by that group and a number of others. There are not separate words for mask, costume, or the wearer of the soft-wood mask. To suggest different words would be to suggest that the mask, the costume, or the wearer is important as an entity, thus denying the existence of the spirit. It is the only documented example in Africa in which women own, control, and wear masks. The helmet-type mask fits over the head of the wearer, who normally sees out through holes in the eyes, although occasionally the holes may be carved in the rings around the neck. The styles of the Sande mask are very recognizable. The face is generally diamond shaped. The features are usually in the lower third of the face, thus giving a very high forehead. One of the most noticeable features of the Nowö is the abundance of rings around the neck. The mask and the motifs on it are rich in meaning. The noticeable rings on the neck have been interpreted, probably falsely, as references to health, prosperity, fecundity, voluptuousness, sexual attractiveness, and beauty. Lamp's research has revealed a perceived similarity between the rings on the mask and those on the chrysalis of certain butterflies and that corresponding ideas of metamorphosis are implied. The rings also suggest to Sande members the ripples of water that radiate from the mask when it appears from the water, for the Nowö spirit is believed to appear to humans from bodies of water. The coiffure is usually elaborate and is a symbol of refinement and beauty. Medicine packets or charms carved into the hair suggest wisdom and divination, but they are also evidence of Islamic influence. Mat-weave borders refer to the household, marriage, and procreation. Beads refer to wealth and beauty. Additional ornaments in the hair or on the head include birds, serpents, inverted cooking pots, and combs. These identify the mask and set it apart from others. When a woman commissions a mask, she reveals the name of the spirit to the carver. He secludes himself in the forest to visualize the personality of the spirit that will inhabit the mask. The mask must be attractive, or the spirit will not enter it. After the mask has been carved, members of the Sande anoint it with halei, thus consecrating it to ritual use. The owner of the mask is the only person who will invoke the spirit with the mask. When a woman retires or moves up in the society to another level, her Nowö retires as well. It becomes a valueless piece of wood. It may be transformed into a comedic relief mask by repainting with unattractive colors. It may be given to a chief as a prestige gift, or it may be sold to outsiders. The costume worn with the black mask is made of layers of raffia fibers that have also been dyed black. These are attached to the lower portion of the neck as well as to a black cloth shirt or gown worn over the body. The sleeves are sewn shut, and long stockings or men's shoes are worn. No part of the body is left exposed, for revealing the body would expose the human agency behind the mask to the eyes of nonmembers, and would also allow the spirit to enter the human dancer rather than the mask. Masked dancing provides a festive mood appropriate to the completion of the several stages of initiation. Masks are seen in public at several key moments during the process. Their appearances serve to announce to families of initiates that certain stages have been successfully accomplished and that preparation of foods and gifts of money must be completed. A mask may collect food from the community to take back to where initiation is taking place. She comes into the community to announce the imminent coming out of the girls, and she leads them into town on their first visit after the process has started. Finally, she leads the richly dressed girls into town when they have completed their training and are released. This is the high point of the entire process, for the girls are now recognized as marriageable, adult women. The mask may appear at other times to bring justice to offenders of Sande law, to perform in respect at the funeral of an important leader of the society, and to participate in ceremonies in which a new mask is initiated into the work of Sande. Nowö is accepted as a living presence. The spirit speaks not through words but through the language of dance, referring to moral and social doctrines of beauty, serenity, dignity, control, order, and balance. Dance movements exaggerate the powers of ordinary women and dramatize the ideals of feminine beauty. The Gola people and the neighboring Vai refer to the masks used by women as Zogbe. Warren d'Azevedo states that the Sande spirit among the Gola is reputed to be a male spirit, the spiritual husband of all Sande women. This assertion is questioned by some scholars. © 1995 by Robin Poyner. |
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