PUNU OKUYI SPIRIT MASK
Tribe: Punu
Country: Gabon
Material: Wood, Pigment
Size: 14.5" (36.8cm)
Notes: Gallery style display stand included. Museum quality item, meticulously prepared to museum quality look.
The okuyi or mukuyi mask,
originating from the Punu in southwest Gabon, represents and idealized
female face. Indicated by the scarification on the face area,
consisting of nine dots, and according to some, have a sexual
connotation. Another sign of female gender is the coiffure.
The ritual
function fulfilled by these masks is normally at funeral ceremonies,
when they are danced as embodiments of the spirits of the ancestors.
In the masquerade, the dancers, wearing costumes of raffia or cotton
fabric and animal pelts, move with amazing agility on stilts up to six
and a half feet in height.
*African Masks - Iris Hahner-Herzog, Maria Kecskesi and Laszlo Vajda.
**Carefully
hand selected for the best quality, and beautifully presented on museum
style display stands, they are ready for display.
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