Chokwe (Batshioko, Jokwe, Tshokwe), Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia

The pwo (female ancestor) mask. More than 1 million Chokwe constitute the largest ethnic group in eastern Angola; they also live in DRC and Zambia. The pwo mask, representing a female ancestor, recently has become known as mwana pwo, a young woman who undergone initiation and is ready for marriage. The young male masquerader with the pwo mask wears a skin-tight knitted tan and black fiber body suit with false breasts, a skirt of trade cloth, and a heavy bustle filled with sand and decorated with feathers. Dancing with short, mincing steps, the pwo masquerader, an embodiment of procreative power, watches over the fertility of future generations. 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, vegetable fiber

Size: 10”x6”x4”

Price:   $200+$25 (S&H)                                                                [#W0C6M506]