Teracotta

Origin: Southern Africa (Mozambique region)

Interesting facts: The present work is a Makonde helmet mask worn by young men during initiation ceremonies.  Interestingly, the mask is naked of any characteristic Makonde scarification, lip plug nor filed teeth.  This mask represents the female counterpart to the masks for male initiation, since the women perform the initiation of girls and make the ceramic masks.  In an important work on Makonde masquerades, In Step with the Times: Mapiko Masquerades of Mozambique, Israel (2014: 185), points our that “The women’s vitengamatu [sing. shitengamatu, meaning literally “open your ears”], made in clay, dance only once a year in the final coming-out ceremonies (nkamangu) of feminine puberty rites, held in the thick of the bush.”  These rites are very private, are never danced in public and men die without ever seeing them.