Wood mask, 'Congo Virgin'

A delicately detailed piece, this mask replicates those awarded to young girls if they passed their initiation rites. In olden times, girls and elder women around Cameroon, Congo DR and other parts of West Africa congregated for Hehle (numbered) night. A group of specifically chosen female elders examined the girls to assure their virginity, and the results were announced only to their clans. Then, a mask such as this one was gifted as a symbol of honor. Louis K. Botchway and Bomukasa proudly present this sese wood mask, the excellence of the workmanship evident in the refined characterization of the mask, rendered through organic dyes.