Determination of oils in African Mende helmet mask Raffia fiber using gas chromatography

Creator

Megan M. Unger, University of Northern Iowa
Joshua Sebree, University of Northern Iowa

Files

Document Type

Open Access Poster

Presentation Type

Open Access Poster Presentation

Description

• African Mende helmet mask that is traditionally work during coming-of-age ceremonies.
• It is made from wood and finished in a black color made from vegetable dye.
• The raffia fibers come from a plant known as ‘raffia bamboo’.
• The African Mende helmet mask given to the UNI Museum was originally used in a classroom and is believed that it was not well preserved.
• The teacher reportedly used vegetable oil on the wooden part of the mask to keep the original look.
• unknown whether there have been more oils used on the mask.

Publication Date

Fall 2023

Faculty Advisor

Joshua Sebree

Department

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Publisher

Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Copyright

©2023 Megan M. Unger & Joshua Sebree

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Unger, Megan M. and Sebree, Joshua, "Determination of oils in African Mende helmet mask Raffia fiber using gas chromatography" (2023). Fall 2023 - Chemical Analysis Class Projects. 1.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/chemanaly_fa2023/1