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Sierra Leone

Three Spoons (Edo or Owe culture, Benin, Bini-Portuguese style), ivory, 16th century, 25, 24.8, and 25.7 cm long (Museo di Anthropologia e Etnologia, Florence), in the collection of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany by 1555 — Ivory spoons from West Africa were imported into Portugal in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Spoons from West Africa in Renaissance Lisbon

by Dr. Kate Lowe

Detail, Zlan of Belewale, Ceremonial Ladle (Wakemia or Wunkirmian), Libera, Dan peoples, before 1960, wood, fiber, metal, and pigment, 13.3 × 58.4 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — The hostess with the mostess: these ladles honored women for their exceptional generosity and hospitality.

Ceremonial Ladle (Dan peoples)

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Detail, Helmet Mask, 19th-20th century, Sierra Leone, Moyamba region, Mende or Sherbro peoples, wood, metal, 47.9 x 22.2 x 23.5cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — Masks like this represent a guardian spirit and allude to an idealized female beauty in Mende and Sherbro culture.

Helmet Mask

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Detail, Lidded Saltcellar, Sierra Leone, Sapi-Portugese, 15th-16th century, ivory, 29.8 cm high (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — Ivory saltcellars were objects created for trade: they were African made and intended for the Portuguese market.

Lidded Saltcellar

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Cotton hammock, early 20th century, Vai people, cotton, 213 x 125 cm, Sierra Leone © Trustees of the British Museum — Before motorized transport, male and female chiefs in Sierra Leone were transported in these elaborate hammocks.

Cotton hammock (Vai peoples)

by The British Museum

Stone head (mahe yafei), 16th - 18th century, Kisi people, steatite or soapstone, 24 x 10 x 17.5 cm, Sierra Leone © Trustees of the British Museum — These enigmatic stone heads were found in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and perhaps predate European arrival to Africa.

Stone Head (mahe yafei), Kisi peoples

by The British Museum

Bundu / Sowei Helmet Mask (Mende peoples) — The Mende initiation rite for young women is the only known masquerade tradition where the mask-wearers are female.

Bundu / Sowei Helmet Mask (Mende peoples)

by Dr. Peri Klemm, Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Christa Clarke