Mask "okuyi" ·  Gabon, Punu · ID: 3037670

Description

light wood, dark brown paint, the facial plane whitened with “pemba” (kaolin earth), half closed eyes, old collection label backside “1624”, slightly dam. (ears, hairdo), traces of usage backside at the rim and at the two drilled holes for attachment;
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). 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.

L’objet Mask “okuyi” avec l’ID d’objet 3037670 a fait partie de la dernière vente aux enchères 78th tribal art auction dans 18 octobre 2014 le Zemanek-Münster Hôtel des ventes. L’objet portant le numéro de lot 404 a atteint un prix de vente de 2 200 €.

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Littérature comparée

Fagaly, William, Ancestors of Congo Square, New Orleans 2011, p. 276 ff.

Publications

Segy, Ladislas, African Sculpture, New York 1958, ill. 70