A Powerful King's Headdress, Toma Peoples, Guinea, (Late 19th century)

H: 24 inches, W: 10 inches, D: 10 inches

Materials: wood, metal, hair, shells, feathers, cloth, bells,straw, glass, leather

The Toma, number about 200,000 people occupy the eastern part of Guinea, and northwest of Liberia.  The Poro Association, which is responsible for the young boys, and is led by the “Landai” the major forest spirit, initiates the boys into adulthood.  The King who wears the headdress represents the spirit; who symbolically devours the boys at the end of their initiation period in order to give them rebirth as men.

The materials used to create this late 19th Century  masterpiece are emblems of power, wisdom, prestige and authority.