Punu Ancestor StatueTribe: Punu
Country: Gabon
Material: Wood, Pigment
Size: 24" Tall
The Punu are equatorial
people settled in the southwest of Gabon. Organized into villages, clans and
lineages, with neither a centralized power structure nor a strict political hierarchy, the
Punu group has a culture based on the cult of ancestors, a general respect for the
deceased, and a fear of the spirits of the wilderness. Their rare
statues appeared in funerary rituals, initiation ceremonies, and in the magical rites
whose function was to unmask sorcerers. These statues represent idealized man and woman. This is indicated
by the scale-like scarification patterns on the forehead and the body, arranged in a
diamond - a characteristic attribute of Punu’s art.
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