Masque facial féminin "okuyi" ou "mukuyi"
Julius Konietzko (1886-1952), Hamburg, Germany (1933)
Lore Kegel (1901-1980), Hamburg, Germany
Boris Kegel-Konietzko (1925-2020), Hamburg, Germany
Kegel-Konietzko & Dorn, Hamburg, Germany
Description
wood, white and pink pigment, base
The handwritten inventory number „MP1“ (= Mpongwe 1) was assigned by Lore Kegel and denotes the first of the masks from this region that she inventoried.
The mask was published in an article in the Hamburger Anzeiger of 1 November 1952, which reported on Lore Kegel’s early collecting activities with her first husband Julius Konietzko in the 1920s and the “exotic” art treasures, mainly from Africa, that they had collected in their Blankenes villa.
This particularly expressive mask belongs to the so-called “White Masks of Ogooué”, even if the kaolin layer that typically covers the face is only present in remnants.
The “okuyi” or “mukudji” masks are the wooden image of a beautiful deceased girl. The white faces suggesting death masks, not only by their colour, but by their nearly closed eyes with narrow slits as well. The mask especially 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 masks belonged to the male “mwiri” secret society. According to Perrois, they played an emblematic role during public hearings and, less obstrusively, in the boys inititation. The mask was a powerful policing instrument for keeping the women and children in a subordinate, obedient position. For years it preserved the customs and laws of all these groups in South Gabun, keeping them intact until the arrival of the missionaries in the late 19th century.