This handcrafted mask is made from local sese wood, with a rustic finish,  and beautifully portrays the Ashanti Queen Mother, Yaa Asantewaa. Yaa Asantewaa remains an influential figure in African history and she is remembered as the Queen Mother who exercised her political and social clout to help defend her Kingdom.  She was appointed Queen Mother by her brother Nana Akwesi Adrine Opese, due to the matrilineal lineage in Ashanti culture and as the Queen Mother, she held many responsibilities, one of which was the Gatekeeper of the Golden Stool (an emblem of the Ashanti kingdom, cultural system and power). During her brother’s reign she saw the Ashanti confederacy go through a series of events that threatened its future and quite literally spoke out about it claiming that if the men of the kingdom would not defend the people, then the women would rise to the challenge. Not only did this infuriate the men of that time, who conformed to traditional gender roles, it also led them to promote Asantewaa to the role of a war-leader, (the first and only female example of that time). Even though Asantewaa, and her closest advisors were unfortunately captured and exiled, she will always be remembered with an image of strength and resistance, which is perfectly depicted in this mask.