Mende Helmet Mask, Sierra Leonebundu height of mask 15in (38cm)overall height on stand 33 1/4in (84.5cm)ProvenanceCharles M. Miller, III, St. James, New York, collected in Liberia in the early 1970sA finely carved example of the recognizable style of mask from the Sande woman's association, deeply hollowed with horse hair attached around the bottom rim; an exquisite coiffure connoting health, wealth and beauty, superbly incised and balanced and divided into three sections, each topped with a bun; the lower portion with multiple neck rings, also connoting wealth, framing the rounded face with arching brown above slit eyes, diminutive nose and mouth; fine glossy black patina with encrustations on the coiffure.