{"secondaryobjectnumber":"","periodterms":[],"creditline":"Museum acquisition from the Holly and David Ross Collection, with the support of the Fowler McCormick Fund","caption":"Artist unrecorded, Mende, Liberia, Western Africa, Sowei or ndoli jowei helmet mask, late 19th–early 20th century. Wood, rawhide, resin, metal, and upholstery stud; 35.6 × 22.9 × 27.9 cm. Museum acquisition from the Holly and David Ross Collection, with the support of the Fowler McCormick Fund (2015-7)","cultureterms":[{"id":2041478,"culture":"African"},{"id":2042254,"culture":"Mende"}],"type":"artobject","dimensionsproposed":"","terms":[{"id":2088264,"term":"girls","aatid":300247581,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2135237,"term":"masquerades","aatid":300254016,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2135524,"term":"rituals (events)","aatid":300065284,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2041478,"term":"African","aatid":300015647,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2042254,"term":"Mende","aatid":300015952,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2129353,"term":"masks (costume)","aatid":300138758,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2045385,"term":"hair","aatid":300011814,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2048754,"term":"ceremonial objects","aatid":300234117,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2134778,"term":"initiations","aatid":300069180,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2114848,"term":"upholstery","aatid":300204905,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2156347,"term":"carving","aatid":300053149,"termtype":"Techniques"},{"id":2045670,"term":"rawhide","aatid":300193293,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2161775,"term":"metal","aatid":300010900,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2165868,"term":"resin","aatid":300012882,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2044505,"term":"cloth","aatid":300162391,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2045920,"term":"wood","aatid":300011914,"termtype":"Materials"}],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: Africa, Liberia","code":"Place made","continent":"Africa","subcontinent":"Western Africa","country":"Liberia","region":null,"state":null,"city":null,"county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/2275384/republic-of-liberia.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}},{"displaygeography":"Place made: Africa, Sierra Leone","code":"Place made","continent":"Africa","subcontinent":"Western Africa","country":"Sierra Leone","region":null,"state":null,"city":null,"county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/2403846/republic-of-sierra-leone.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"Overall","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"35.55"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"22.85"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Depth","units":"centimeters","dimension":"27.93"}],"markings":null,"accessionyear":"2015-01-01","newaccession":0,"makers":[{"id":22875,"displayname":"Artist unrecorded","displaydate":null,"datebegin":0,"dateend":0,"prefix":null,"suffix":null,"role":"Artist","displaymaker":"Artist unrecorded","displayorder":1}],"datecomputed":1900,"signed":null,"restrictions":null,"classification":"Masks","packages":[{"packageid":278831,"name":"10282025-DAY1-ONVIEW"},{"packageid":267983,"name":"Web_CA_2025_African"},{"packageid":197269,"name":"web_highlights -revised 2021"},{"packageid":169344,"name":"web_2019_African_women"},{"packageid":2929,"name":"Web_RecentAcq"},{"packageid":223066,"name":"Gallery_31_African"},{"packageid":181965,"name":"web_2020_African"},{"packageid":52485,"name":"web_African_2015_09"}],"catalograisonne":null,"classifications":[{"id":2048754,"classification":"ceremonial objects"},{"id":2129353,"classification":"masks (costume)"}],"exhibitions":[{"exhibitionid":1227,"citation":"Life Objects: Rites of Passage in African Art Saturday, September 19, 2009 - Sunday, January 24, 2010","isvirtual":true,"begindate":"2009-09-19","enddate":"2010-01-24","uri":"https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/exhibitions/1227"}],"cultures":[{"id":15033,"culture":"Mende","alphasort":"Mende","begindate":0,"enddate":0,"displayculture":"Mende","displaydate":null}],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/LO016"],"displaytitle":"Sowei or ndoli jowei helmet mask","displayculture":"Mende","displaymaker":"Artist unrecorded","captionhtml":"Artist unrecorded, Mende, Liberia, Western Africa, <i>Sowei or ndoli jowei helmet mask</i>, late 19th–early 20th century. Wood, rawhide, resin, metal, and upholstery stud; 35.6 × 22.9 × 27.9 cm. Museum acquisition from the Holly and David Ross Collection, with the support of the Fowler McCormick Fund (2015-7)","displaydate":"late 19th–early 20th century","medium":"Wood, rawhide, resin, metal, and upholstery stud","media":[{"id":21508,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/LO016","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Dealer image"}],"displayperiod":null,"extended_content":true,"campuscollections":"false","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"Burkhard Gottschalk, <EM>Bundu: masquest et statues des collections privées</EM> (Dusseldorf: U. Gottschalk, 2011).","citation":"Burkhard Gottschalk, <EM>Bundu: masquest et statues des collections privées</EM> (Dusseldorf: U. Gottschalk, 2011)., p. 95","date":2011,"id":7564,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/784974931"},{"boilertext":"\"Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2015,\" <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</em> 75/76 (2016-17): 102-125.","citation":"\"Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2015,\" <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</em> 75/76 (2016-17): 102-125., p. 106","date":2016,"id":9661,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/i40228781"}],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[],"department":"African and Oceanic Art","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199315,"term":"African Art","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"daterange":"A.D. 1900-1945","dateend":1929,"depicted":[],"titles":[{"title":"Sowei or ndoli jowei helmet mask","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":null,"objectnumber":"2015-7","inscribed":null,"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Provenance","textentryhtml":"Rene Guyot, Monrovia, Liberia, 1975; [purchased by Michael Oliver, New York, NY, 1975]; purchased by Sandra Marsh, Los Angeles, CA, 1975; [purchased by Michael Oliver, New York, NY, 2004]; purchased by Holly and David Ross, Princeton, NJ, 2004; purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ, 2015.","remarks":null},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"The helmet masks worn by the female officials of the Sande society—a women’s initiation society—are carved by men. They are a key component of one of the few masquerades in Africa performed by women, reinforcing the power of the women of the Sande society. The elaborate hairstyles, broad high foreheads, small slit eyes, closed mouths, and fleshy neck rolls represent to the audience an idealized image of female beauty and power. The masks are worn with a fiber costume during public performances three times during the initiation process, a long period of seclusion when adolescent girls are instructed in the knowledge needed to prepare them for their adult roles as wives and mothers.\n","remarks":"AFR_31_CLA.pdf - Day 1 installation"}],"datebegin":1870,"sortnumber":"2015    7","published_date":"2026-03-05 09:29:38.025302","objectid":56351,"dimensions":"35.6 × 22.9 × 27.9 cm (14 × 9 × 11 in.)","on_view":true}