Punu mask, Gabon H. 26,5 cm Provenance:... - Lot 149 - De Baecque et Associés

Lot 149
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Estimation :
500 - 600 EUR
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Result : 3 000EUR
Punu mask, Gabon H. 26,5 cm Provenance:... - Lot 149 - De Baecque et Associés
Punu mask, Gabon H. 26,5 cm Provenance: Acquired at the Vérité Gallery, Paris, in the 1950s and then by descent (oral information) The Okuyi mask was worn during acrobatic dances by men perched on stilts. The existence of these rituals was reported as early as the middle of the 19th century by the explorer Paul du Chaillu. The softness of their beauty is an echo, a hymn, to the power and importance of women in the social organization of the Punu. Incarnating in turn the spirit of the ancestor and the beauty of youth, this mask manages to combine and celebrate two opposing entities, masterfully summarizing the paradox of the okuyi. The powdered mask of kaolin, this white which traditionally also covers the bodies of women during the ceremony, is a reference to the spirit of the ancestor incarnate. Mouth hemmed with red pigments. The delicate headdress is extended in fine lateral braids, surmounted by an axial shell flanked by a chiselled bun. Wear and lack of white pigments.
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