Falui Headdress

This is the headdress for a Mende Falui masquerader. It is typically made from a cloth covered cone decorated with vertical rows of cowrie shells. Other examples sometimes also have leather amulets or small wooden tablets inscribed with passages from the Qur an. The rest of the costume is comprised of a baggy, brown, country-cloth shirt and trousers, trimmed with a raffia fringe around the neck and ankles. The devil belongs to the exclusively male Poro society.