Mask (Mwana Pwo)

Mwana pwo (young woman) masks, danced by Chokwe men at festivals primarily for entertainment, are said to bestow increased fertility on the spectators. The masks represent female ancestors depicted as beautiful young women, with high foreheads, balanced features, filed teeth, and scarification. The scarification marks, which may duplicate those of the actual woman whose beauty inspired the carver, include the cingelyengelye design on the forehead. This cruciform design was probably derived from tin pendants traded into the Chokwe region by Portuguese voyagers as early as the seventeenth century.