Ancestor spirit mask "moghondzi" · Gabon, Vuvi · ID: 3053570
Heinz Plester, Gladbach, Germany (1973)
Arno Henseler, Munich, Germany
Description
light wood, pigments, handwritten collection label “Prov. Mme. Mengin, Pars Abb. in Fang Buch von Perrois” (“Prov. Mme. Mengin, Pars ill. in Fang book by Perrois”)
These masks embody deceased ancestors. They are the property of the “bwete” initiation society.
After six months of apprenticeship in seclusion, the young “adults” return to the village. Dancers wearing “moghondzi” masks emerge from the dark forest at night to welcome the newly initiated. It is said that they come from the land of the dead, the land of “kombe”, the guardian of the realm of the dead.
After their use, the masks are kept with other ritual objects in huts set up for the purpose.
Comparing literature
Hahner-Herzog, Iris, Das Zweite Gesicht, Genf, München, New York 1997, p. 74f
Publications
Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Afrikanische Kunst in Deutschen Privatsammlungen, München 1973, p. 323, ill. 461; Eisenhofer, Stefan & Karin Guggeis, Afrikanische Kunst, München, Berlin 2002, p. 91, ill. 88
AHDRC: 0050284