Mask - Gabon

Punu ceremonial statue
Punu traditional art
African statue of the Punu ethnic group. This African figure was used for ancestor worship. This piece is inlaid with thick white pigment, as is very often the case with the famous Mukiyu or Okuyi masks of the Punu and subgroups. On the forehead is the famous diamond-shaped scarification also found on the masks.
The cavity in the chest presumably served to insert the bones of the deceased, in the manner of the Kota and Mbete who made their statues into reliquaries.