Images(4)

Sowei (Sande Society Helmet Mask)

Artist Mende artist

Datecirca 1950

MediumWood

Dimensions15 ¼ x 8 ½ x 10 in. (38.7 x 21.6 x 25.4 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineGift of Reginald and Celeste Hodges

Object number2019.13.1

On View

On view

Label TextThis blackened helmet mask (sowei) belonged to the woman’s initiation society known as Sande. Its masqueraders, who are significantly women, are known as ndoli jowei (“the dancing sowei”) and perform at initiations, funerals, and on other important occasions.
While art lovers and historians strive to read the sowei’s importance through its form and coloring, for Sierra Leonean women, it is the ndoli jowei masquerade, not the mask, that embodies the poise, elegance, and refinement of female power—a learned sense of being, communicated transitively. Each mask is bestowed an individual name often relating to the woman’s adept dance steps, knowledge of which is usually lost in the collection process. Significantly, the collectors of this mask recorded its name—“Navoh”—when it was gifted to them in 1973.ProvenanceGiven to Reginald Hodges by the people of Golu via Gerihun, Bo District, Sierra Leone, 1973; given to NCMA, 2019.
Published ReferencesNorth Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection," (Raleigh, NC; North Carolina Museum of Art, 2024), illus. (color) 143.Exhibition HistoryRaleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection Reimagined" (Thematic Gallery: "Devotion and the Arts in the People's Collection"), June 7, 2025-present. Object Rights Statement

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