Komo Society Headdress
Mali, Bamana (Bambara)
20th century
Feathers, quills, horns, and encrustation.
Height: 23 in. (58 cm)
Gift of William W. Brill. 89.15.15
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Typical of the Mande association masks, the sacrificial material seen in
the encrustation on the surfaces of this headdress (also known as a helmet
mask) is an indication of its connection with one of the three main Bamana
power societies: Komo, Kono and Nama. This specific headdress
is typical of the Komo society, which functions as the custodian
of tradition and is concerned with all aspects of community life-agriculture,
judicial processes, and passage rites. The Bamana, an ethnolinguistic group
of the upper Niger region of Mali, are distinguished by their indigenous
method of writing and a remarkable system of metaphysics and cosmology,
encompassing associated societies, prayers, myths, and rituals. The Komo
is a secret power association of priests, knowledgeable elders, and blacksmiths
that forms the central Bamana social institution. Members of the blacksmith
clan are born into the Komo society because of their ability to employ
the forbidden power of fire to transform matter from one form into another.
Its masks and headdresses are of elongated animal form decorated with actual
antelope horns, porcupine quills, bird skulls, and other objects as vessels
of power. Blacksmiths of the Komo society wear the society headdress
or komo-kun during a dance to invoke nyama, the force that
activates the universe.
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