Ancient Bamana Kore mask, 1942

This is a mask of the Bamana society, it's commonly worn by an adult Bamana during the initiation of young people into the rite of passage from childhood to maturity.
 
All the males of Bamana advance through various levels of initiation and secret knowledge and the mask of Kore, belongs to the older ones, helping them in their personal struggle to achieve knowledge and wisdom.