Mask "okuyi" · Gabon, Punu · ID: 3052398
Zemanek-Münster, Würzburg, 30 November 2013, lot 382
Description
light wood, pigments, base
Belonging to the so-called “white-faced masks from the Ogue”. These masks represented 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, and so on. 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.
The object Mask “okuyi” with the object ID 3052398 was last part of the auction Auction 106 at April 25, 2026 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 345.
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Comparing literature
Fagaly, William, Ancestors of Congo Square, New Orleans 2011, p. 276 ff.