Superb mask - Punu - Gabon (No reserve price)

Punu Mask
These African masks from Gabon were associated with various secret societies of Gabon, including Bwiti, Bwete, and Mwiri ('to lead'), the latter comprising several levels of initiation, to which all Punu men belonged, and whose emblem was the caiman. The Punu did not incorporate masks into Bwiti rituals, unlike the Tsogo. These powerful secret societies also had judicial functions and included several dances, such as the leopard dance, Esomba, Mukuvi, and the dance Je I Okuvi on stilts, the latter being the most widespread. The facial mask, whitened with kaolin and evoking a deceased woman, was displayed during the dance called Okuvi. Traditionally adorned with feathers, the diamond-shaped scarifications, mabinda, absent on this specimen, would constitute associated tholoids, which some authors link to the nine clans that founded the Kongo kingdom. The mask shows old polychromy, abrasions, and cracks from drying, with a velvety surface.