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KWELE EKUK MASK
Tribe: Kwele
Country: Gabon
Material: Wood, Pigment
Size: 12" Tall x 9.5" Wide
Status: Private Collection - Italy
Ekuk means both “protective forest spirit” and “children of beete.” It displays a flat surface and often has a whitened heart-shaped face, a triangular nose, coffee-bean eyes and small or non-existent mouth. This mask, with two large horns, represents the antelope. The faces are usually painted in white kaolin earth, a pigment associated by the Kwele with light and clarity, the two essential factors in the fight against evil.
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