Mask "okuyi" · Gabon, Punu · ID: 3038158
Mark Eglinton, New York, USA
Description
wood, matt patina, polychrome paint, corresponding with the Punu ideals of beauty: half-closed eyes, finely arched eyelids, narrow nose, mouth with red lips, hairdo with central crest and flat lobes aside, characteristic whitened facial plane (slightly abraded), forehead tattoo, small missing part above the left eye, cracks, slight traces of abrasion, base;
belonging to the so-called “white-faced masks from the Ogue”. These masks represent female entities from the spirit world, fantastical beings who intervened in the villages on important collective occasions (bereavements, palavers, the birth of twins, times of epidemic, hunts for malevolent sorcerers). Masked dancers standing on stilts would confront each other in “jousts”. Each dancer would be assisted by a team, whose purpose was to help him perform his competition with an acrobatic feat. The best dancer in the eyes of public would win the match.
Comparing literature
Perrois, Louis, Punu, Milan 2008, p. 28