Mask - Gabon (No reserve price)
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Okuyi mask in wood from Gabon, 1 object, 32 cm high by 15 cm wide, in good condition with some wear and stains due to age.
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Description from the seller
Mask
This mask presents the characteristic features of the Okuyi dance masks, always worn by men, of which there are many variants: protruding mouth, eyes like coffee beans pierced by a slit in an orbital cavity outlined in black, face whitened with kaolin. A headdress shared into a summit shell and four lateral braids adorns the head; their orientation recalling the four moments of the sun. The chéloïde scarification in 9 diamonds is absent on this specimen but a checkerboard band decorates the lower part of the face. The ritual clay ointment, mpèmba, covering the mask could be kaolin mixed with powder of the bones of the deceased, particularly those of deceased twins. Initiates smeared themselves with it on the body and face during various traditional manifestations. The red, when present, highlights the sensory organs or the scarifications. The counterpart of the okuyi masks are the ikwara masks with a black patina, night masks, representing men or elderly women.
The masks of the mukuyi dance were exhibited during very ancient-origin rituals during which dancers mounted on stilts of 2 to 3 meters and covered with a costume of foliage and loincloths in
Mask
This mask presents the characteristic features of the Okuyi dance masks, always worn by men, of which there are many variants: protruding mouth, eyes like coffee beans pierced by a slit in an orbital cavity outlined in black, face whitened with kaolin. A headdress shared into a summit shell and four lateral braids adorns the head; their orientation recalling the four moments of the sun. The chéloïde scarification in 9 diamonds is absent on this specimen but a checkerboard band decorates the lower part of the face. The ritual clay ointment, mpèmba, covering the mask could be kaolin mixed with powder of the bones of the deceased, particularly those of deceased twins. Initiates smeared themselves with it on the body and face during various traditional manifestations. The red, when present, highlights the sensory organs or the scarifications. The counterpart of the okuyi masks are the ikwara masks with a black patina, night masks, representing men or elderly women.
The masks of the mukuyi dance were exhibited during very ancient-origin rituals during which dancers mounted on stilts of 2 to 3 meters and covered with a costume of foliage and loincloths in
Details
Era
After 2000
Number of objects
1
Material
Wood
Country of origin
Gabon
Condition
Good condition - used with small signs of aging & blemishes
Height
32 cm
Width
15 cm
