Mende Female Figure, Sierra Leone / Liberia #892

A Mende sculpture of a woman, Liberia, high abstract and of remarkable position of the female breasts, natural brownish patina, significant traces of a touchpatina.

Mende sculpture, particularly from Sierra Leone, is shaped by a clear division between artistic production and social authority. Wood carving is traditionally a male activity, and therefore Mende sculptures are carved by men, even when the subject of the work is female. The act of carving is associated with technical skill, physical labor, and esoteric knowledge that is culturally assigned to men.

Despite this, women occupy a central and authoritative position in Mende art. Many of the most significant Mende sculptural forms, especially the Sowei masks, represent women and embody ideals of female beauty, morality, and social maturity. These masks are used in the context of the Sande society, a powerful women’s association responsible for the initiation and education of girls. While men produce the physical objects, women commission them, own them, and control their ceremonial use.

The function of women in Mende art therefore extends beyond representation to governance and meaning. The sculptures serve as visual expressions of female values such as self-discipline, fertility, wisdom, and moral authority. Through their role in the Sande society, women determine how and when these artworks appear, and what social messages they communicate. Mende sculpture thus illustrates a cultural system in which artistic labor is male, but symbolic power and social function are firmly rooted in women’s authority.

Boone, Sylvia Ardyn. Radiance from the Waters: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986.

Phillips, Ruth B. “Masking in Mende Sande Society Initiation Rituals.” African Arts 12, no. 1 (1978): 58–65.

Little, Kenneth. The Mende of Sierra Leone. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1951.

Lamp, Frederick John. Art of the Baga: A Drama of Cultural Reinvention. New York: Museum for African Art, 1996. (Useful for regional secret-society context, including Sande/Sowei traditions.)

Bascom, William. “The Focus of African Art.” African Arts 10, no. 1 (1976): 32–35.