Mask - Gabon (No reserve price)

Punu Mask of Gabon.

The Punu (also called Bapunu, plural of Mupunu) form an ethnic group mainly spread across southern Gabon. The Punu migrated to southern Gabon (in the Ngounié basin) in the 18th century. They live in independent villages divided into clans and families. Social cohesion is ensured by the Moukouji society, whose essential role is to subdue the evil spirits of the forest. Their language is yipunu. People speaking yipunu are mainly found in the Ngounié and Nyanga provinces. The largest concentrations are the towns of Mouila, Ndendé (Ngounié); Tchibanga and Moabi (Nyanga). Today, we should add towns such as Lambaréné (Moyen-Ogooué) and even the country’s capital, Libreville. In terms of number of speakers, yipunu ranks second, after Fang. In Gabon, in the Ngounié basin, the mukuyi commemorates the deceased. Mounted on enormous stilts, a masked dancer, whose body is hidden under a cloth garment—formerly raffia—performs acrobatic moves while brandishing a fly-swatter in each hand. The mukuyi masks are supposed to represent ancestors, sometimes female.