Tribal Art

During difficult discussions, dark-colored African masks punu were used. This type of vigilante mask danced during the ikwara dance. The face with gracefully proportioned features, topped with a single domed shell, has lips colored with pink ocher pigments. Matte dark patina, erosions and gaps.
Height on base: 46 cm.
The white masks of Gabon, itengi, (pl. bitengi) were associated with the different secret societies of Gabon, including the Bwiti, Bwete, and the Mwiri ("to lead"), the latter ranging in several levels of initiation, to which all Punu men belonged, and whose emblem was the caiman. The Punu did not use any mask in the Bwiti rituals, unlike the Tsogo. These powerful secret societies, which also had a judicial function, had several dances, including the leopard dance, the Esomba, the Mukuyi, and the dance of the Okuyi, on high stilts, remaining the most widespread.
Source: “Visions of Africa, Punu” L. Perrois and C. Grand-Dufay, ed.5Continents.