Female face mask "okuyi" · Gabon, Punu · ID: 3043631

Name: Female face mask "okuyi"
SKU: 3043631
Availability: Discontinued

not available anymore

Provenance

French Private Collection

Size

H: 27 cm

H: 10.6 inch

Description

wood, red and dark brown patina, white earth “pemba”, the bowl-shaped base (where the actual mask face is superimposed to) provided with see holes and triangular recess for the nose, slightly dam., abrasion of paint, base.
The “okuyi” or “mukudji” masks are the wooden image of a beautiful deceased girl. They mainly performed during mourning rites. The masker was entirely hidden under his costume of fibre and cloth with the cane fly-swat “mwandzu” in his hand. The dancers appeared on high stilts and spoke with ghostly voices, generated by a secret instrument consisting of a small gourd.

The object Female face mask “okuyi” with the object ID 3043631 was last part of the auction 88th Tribal Art Auction at March 10, 2018 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 370.

You can find more Masks and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.