This mask type of the Punu, called ‘okuyi’ or ‘mukudji’, represents a ‘beautiful girl’ coming to the living from the afterlife to pay a benevolent visit. These ‘okuyi masks’ are made of lightweight, light-coloured wood. The face is always coloured in white, the hairstyle mostly black, the mouth and the typical scarification marks on the forehead and on the temples are generally red. They are worn by dancers on high stilts (!) during ceremonies, feasts and at markets. The present, old ‘okuyi mask’ represents the ‘classic’ type: made of light-coloured, very lightweight wood. With the typical slit eyes that are reminiscent of Japanese No masks. The face is coloured in white by means of kaolin, since the colour white symbolises death in many African cultures. The friendly, smiling mouth with arched corners, the typical tribal scarification marks, and a strip above the forehead are dyed red. The elaborately shaped hairstyle, with a central crest and two side plaits as well as a relief band around the whole face, are dyed black. The costume is attached to the undyed, wide edge of the mask. An old object with good usage patina on the outside as well as on the inside. Only minor, age-related damage (to the coiffure). Between the 19th and the early 20th centuries; H: 31 cm. (ME)

Provenance: Czech private collection.

Lit.: ‘Ancestral art of Gabon’ by Louis Perrois, ill. 23.