Chokwe
Mwana Pwo Mask
Before 1972
Wood, vegetable fibre, pigments
35 x 18.3 x 18 cm
Ernest Gagnon Collection, gift of the Province du Canada français de la Compagnie de Jésus, inv. 1975.F.162
Archeology and World Cultures
This Mwana Pwo mask depicts an idealized feminine beauty, but its carver was probably inspired by a woman in his community who was admired for her physical attractiveness and her personality. The fibre coiffure replicates the oil-and clay-coated braids of Chokwe women, while the design on the forehead, the cingelyengelye, represents a connection to the divine principle. Its form was perhaps drawn from the cross-shaped pendants introduced to the region by the Portuguese in the seventeenth century. In this matrilineal society, such a mask was worn by a man to honour the women of the community – in particular the female ancestor of the lineage – in a dance that imitated their calm and graceful movements. A very strong bond was forged between the dancer and the mask, which was often placed in his grave.
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