Anthropomorphic face mask

---

Description

wood, white earth “pemba”, red pigment, brown patina, plant fibre cord, ovoid flat form, slightly asymmetrical compressed facial features summarized underneath arching brows, small sagittal crest, massive work of carving, the backside just slightly hollowed, slightly dam., minor missing parts (rim of forehead area, eyes), abrasion of paint.
Only litte is known about the usage of Vuvi masks in Central Gabon. They know a mask type which represents the spirit being “moghondzi” and which - announced by the sound of drums - appears only by night. According to J. Bonhomme these “moghondzi” are dead ancestors coming back to visit living people. Their presence is suposedly good, but their direct contact can harm, provoke illness or mental diseases. After usage, the masks were kept in special huts, together with further ritual items.
Possibly present mask is a variation of the “White masks of the Ogooué”.

---

Comparing literature

Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture, Munich 2009, p. 605 Hahner-Herzog, Iris, Das Zweite Gesicht, Genf, München, New York 1997, p. 74 Julien Bonhomme, Le miroir et le crâne, Parcours initatique du Bwete Missoko (Gabon), Paris 2005

---