Title: Punu mask - Gabon - African Art Tribal ArtDate/Period: contemporaryOrigin: GabonDimension: 12,2 InchMaterials: woodWeight: 1,32 PoundsItem type: masksProvenance: The collection comes from the tribal art collection of Guy Mercier, a consultant for the Solvay group, who undertook it at the beginning of the 20th century. Although he travelled extensively in West and Central Africa as part of his work, collecting works in situ, the majority of his collection came from the "cabinets of curiosity" that abounded in European capitals during the 1920s. It also comes from prestigious galleries (Paris, Brussels, London, New York, etc.). The white masks of Gabon, itengi, (pl. bitengi) were associated with the various secret societies of Gabon, including Bwiti, Bwete, and Mwiri ("to lead"), the last of which involved several levels of initiation, to which all Punu men belonged, and whose emblem was the caiman (hence, for some, the saurian scale motif). Unlike the Tsogo, the Punu did not use masks in their Bwiti rituals. This object, evocative of a deceased young woman, was displayed during the Okuyi dance. These powerful secret societies, which also had a judicial function, included several dances, of which the leopard dance, the Esomba, the Mukuyi or the Okuyi, depending on the area, an acrobatic dance on stilts, remained the most widespread. In some villages, at dawn or dusk, the Okuyi was accompanied by songs in an esoteric language that only the initiated could understand (Punu, L. Perrois and C. Grand-Dufay).Additional Information: Stand not included. A universal or custom base can be ordered separately.
Reserve: $100.00
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