Mask - punu - Punu - Gabon (No reserve price)

Influenced by Kongo culture, the Punu and Lumbu carved African masks coated with white kaolin, such as this example of the Punu type, topped with a broad central shell. This female mask's facial decorations refer to the scarifications in use.
Abrasions, colored highlights.
The white African masks from Gabon, itengi (pl. bitengi), were associated with various secret societies in Gabon, including Bwiti, Bwete, and Mwiri ('to lead'), the latter comprising several levels of initiation, to which all Punu men belonged. In some villages, at dawn or at dusk, the Okuyi dance was accompanied by songs in an esoteric language that only initiates could understand.