The Helmet mask - Bondo Mask

photo  by Chad Finer

These men were commissioned by carver Bockarie Su Gande to cut wood into sections which were then to be carved by Su Gande into Bondo masks. Su Gande told me that he had been watching this tree for quite a while before he hired the men to cut it up for him. It was on a trip with him to his village near Panguma that he took me to where this all was happening. He picked up the cut wood sections and had them transported to his home in Kenema, where he then proceeded to carve very fine masks. It was from this wood that he carved me 3 helmet masks that I had negotiated with him to make. I gave one to our neighbor, Mama Hokey Kemoh, who was the head of the local Bondo society. 

photo © by Chad Finer

Two Bondo masks carved by master carver Bockarie Su Gande from the log being sawed in the first picture.