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X77.1504 Sowei mask
Object Name: Sowei mask
Artist: Unknown
Cultural Group: Mende peoples
Place of Origin: Sierra Leone
Date: Late 19th-early 20th century
Dimensions: H: 38.30 cm, D: 21.60 cm
Materials Used: Wood, raffia
Credit Line and Accession Number: Fowler Museum at UCLA. X77.1504
Stylized representations of paired rams’ horns arranged in V or U configurations frequently ornament sowei masks. They are symbols of the medicine embodied by the spirit incarnating the mask.
Source: Exhibition wall text, The Art of Women’s Masquerades in Sierra Leone.
