The pwo woman mask : Chokwe (Batshioko, Jokwe, Tshokwe), Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia

The pwo woman mask. While in former times the masks played important roles in religious beliefs and institutional practices, now many Chokwe masks have come to be used primarily for entertainment. Itinerant actors wearing these masks travel from village to village, living on gifts received at performances. The most popular and best-known entertainment masks are chihongo, spirit of wealth, and pwo, his consort. As an ancestor, she is envisioned as an elderly woman. Recently pwo has become known as mwana pwo, a young woman who undergone initiation and is ready for marriage. In terms of dance masks, the pwo is the incarnation of the female ancestor who encourages fertility; it is worn by a man dressed in a net tunic. It brings fecundity to the spectators, and it sometimes dances with a statuette that represents a mother carrying her child on her back. The cross-shaped motif found on the foreheads of both cihongo (male) and pwo masks represents a scarification pattern derived from a Portuguese iron cross, formerly distributed by Chokwe traders

Material:  wood

Size: 10”x6”x4”