Walking stick - Wood - Galoa mask

Funerary Mask Okukwe - Galoa / Galwa - Gabon
The Galoa (or Galwas) are a Gabonese ethnic group settled downstream of Lambaréné along the lower course of the Ogooué River. They are part of the Myènè group.
Their masks are not very diverse, generally round, painted in black, red, and white in opposite quarters. This facial-painting style is also found among the neighboring Aduma.
The most famous masks of the Galoa are those belonging to the Okukwé society. These, flat and oval, feature a clearly identifiable painted design with a pattern of opposing triangles on the forehead and chin; half-closed eyes, a straight nose, and perfect symmetry in their construction.
This society carried a judicial character, the mirror on the mask’s forehead could be interpreted as a third eye capable of spotting troublemakers.
According to Louis Perrois (in Art ancestral du Gabon), the mask-dance in a village held a certain importance as it openly revealed the misdeeds of some and others!"