Mask teké - bateke - Gabon (No reserve price)

The populations living there did not use them either to enhance the brightness of their festivals or to symbolize spirits and ancestors during initiation and cult ceremonies.

However, some Teke groups (Tsaye and Assi-Nséké), inhabiting a region located within the triangle of Franceville (Gabon), Mossendjo, and Sibiti (Republic of the Congo), crafted traditional dance masks for a secret society called Kidumu.

This is a politico-religious institution whose main figures are: the mfumu-a-ntsié, the ngan-ntsié, and the dancer, the mask bearer, a virtuoso of individual acrobatic choreography.

Kidumu oversees major societal events: circumcision, marriages of influential figures, deaths of leaders, alliances, judgments, and more.

The dancer performing alone at the end of the ceremonies is accompanied by an orchestra comprising antelope horn players, drum beaters, trumpet blowers, and singers.