Mask - Gabon (No reserve price)
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Gabonese wooden gorilla mask titled "Masque Gorille - Kwele / Bakwele" from the Bakwele (Kwele) culture, dating to ca. 1450–1500, measuring 52 cm high by 22 cm wide, in good condition with age-related wear.
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Description from the seller
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Gorilla Mask - Kwele / Bakwele - Gabon
Among the Bakwele, the village's internal cohesion depended on the prestige and authority of its founder and on the ability of its peacemaker.
To strengthen it, they borrowed from the Ngwyes the cult of the beete. This ritual, which lasted an entire week, began with the departure into the forest of the able-bodied men to hunt the antelope, whose meat, accompanied by medicinal substances, would be eaten at the ceremonial closing meal... The Ekuk masks that result from this are the best known.
After this departure, after one or two days, the Ekuk masks would come out of the forest and enter the village, inviting dance and song.
Ekuk means both "spirit of the forest" and "children of beete".
This mask is supposed to represent the antelope
Always
Gorilla Mask - Kwele / Bakwele - Gabon
Among the Bakwele, the village's internal cohesion depended on the prestige and authority of its founder and on the ability of its peacemaker.
To strengthen it, they borrowed from the Ngwyes the cult of the beete. This ritual, which lasted an entire week, began with the departure into the forest of the able-bodied men to hunt the antelope, whose meat, accompanied by medicinal substances, would be eaten at the ceremonial closing meal... The Ekuk masks that result from this are the best known.
After this departure, after one or two days, the Ekuk masks would come out of the forest and enter the village, inviting dance and song.
Ekuk means both "spirit of the forest" and "children of beete".
This mask is supposed to represent the antelope
Details
Number of objects
1
Material
Wood
Country of origin
Gabon
Condition
Good condition - used with small signs of aging & blemishes
Height
52 cm
Width
22 cm
Estimated period
1450-1500
