Face mask · Gabon, Lumbo/Punu/Tsogho · ID: 3033356
Harry A. Franklin, Beverly Hills, USA
Description
wood, black paint, kaolin, traces of orange pigment, heart-shaped facial plane, confined by arching brows, coiffure in two lobes with a broad parting in the middle,
the accentuated arching brows, the flatness of the face and the small nose remind of the masks of the Tshogo - the sickle-shaped eyes and the heart-shaped mouth rather of the Lumbo, resp. the Punu. Each of the three ethnical groups is known for their “white masks of the Ogooué” which always symbolize the spirit of a beautiful deceased young girl.
The object Face mask with the object ID 3033356 was last part of the auction 70th tribal art auction at September 8, 2012 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 364.
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Comparing literature
David, Jean & Jane, Gabon, Zürich 2005, ill. 48 Perrois, Louis, Arts du Gabon, Paris 1979, p. 267