Mask,

late 19th–20th century

This Wè mask represents an idealized woman, identified by the red pigment sweeping across the nose and cheeks, and the curved scars extending from each ear and meeting at the nostrils. Though these attributes were typical of female ornamentation, this mask was commissioned and worn by a man during performances at harvest festivals, funerals, or burials. The mask retains an accumulation of brass bells and iron chains along its jawline, but it is missing the dried raffia skirt, heavy cloth shirt or cape, and conical red cloth and cowrie-covered cap with which it was paired.