Poro Helmet Mask

Helmet Mask

Attribution: Museum-publishedProvenance: Museum accession

Attribution follows a published museum catalogue or peer-reviewed scholarship. Object is held in a public collection under a published accession number.

Helmet Mask, Igbo — front view
Front · Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 — Cleveland Museum of Art

This type of helmet was worn in rituals demonstrating a boy’s transition from one age group to the next, prior to his actual initiation into the secret Poro society. The pre-initiates were viewed as unknowing and anxious oxen, so the horns on such helmets may refer to those of horned cattle. The female figure alludes to women’s supernatural powers, which assure the welfare of Poro members.

Catalogued by Cleveland Museum of Art as “Helmet Mask”, dated early to mid-1900s. Harvested from the museum’s open-access record; every field below is copied from that record and none of it has been inferred.

Record

People / cultureSenufo
CountryCôte d'Ivoire
Common nameHelmet Mask
Form categoryVertical helmet
MaterialsWood, upholstery studs, and colorant
DimensionsOverall: 34.9 cm (13 3/4 in.)

Provenance

J. J. Klejman, New York, NY (1963)
Katherine C. White [1929-1980], Gates Mills, OH, by purchase from the above (?–1975)
The Cleveland Museum of Art by gift (1975–)

CollectionCleveland Museum of Art
Accession number1975.152

Source

Cleveland Museum of Art, Helmet Mask, accession 1975.152. https://clevelandart.org/art/1975.152

https://clevelandart.org/art/1975.152

This record is a catalogue entry, not an appraisal, valuation or legal determination. Nothing here should be read as evidence that an object was lawfully acquired or exported.