Stone pedestal heads from eastern Sierra Leone, known as Mahen Yafe (plural), pre-1550’s.

Stone pedestal heads from eastern Sierra Leone, known as Mahen Yafe (plural), pre-1550’s. 

The term Mahei Yafei (singular), comes from the Mende expression “Chief’s Spirit”. They were sometimes used as “witnesses” in Mende chief’s courts, though they predate the 16th century Mende invasion of the region, and are instead associated with the Temne and Bullom peoples, collectively referred to as the Sapi by early Portuguese travelers who commissioned elaborate ivory carvings from these peoples for export. 

These large, near life-size pedestal heads, variously executed in soapstone, limestone and granite, are distinct from the more numerous and more abstract Nomoli or Pomdo figures from the same region, perhaps indicating a different function, age or production by a different regional subgroup. Set on sturdy columnar necks, with their heads tilted backwards, Mahen Yafe often feature elaborate hairdo’s, beards and mustaches, and earrings and nose rings reminiscent of the gold rings still worn by Temne and Bullom chiefs centuries later.  

Dating these pieces is very difficult, as none have been found in situ during controlled archaeological excavations, but we know that they predate the Mende who came to dominate the region in the mid-16th century. Stone can not be directly dated, but recent lab testing of two wood figures resembling the ancient stone figures from the inland region of eastern Sierra Leone and Guinea provided dates as early as the 10th century.