Punu-Tsangui mask - Lot 79

Punu-Tsangui mask Gabon Wood H. 29 cm Provenance : - Brought back in the early 20th century through family descent Superb okuyi dance mask depicting the face of a beautiful young woman who has died. The swollen, half-closed eyes, set beneath high superciliary arches, evoke the world beyond. The mouth, with its hemmed lips, retains traces of red pigment. The nose is marked by two nostrils in slight relief. The face is adorned with the scarification marks typical of the Punu-Tsangui populations of the eastern zone: the forehead is barred by a deep horizontal furrow intersected by another vertical one, enhanced by red pigment; and on the cheeks, in relief, two black bands undulate to meet at the tip of the nose. The face, which retains remnants of the white kaolin that once covered it, is set in a beautiful oval, and this rounded style is echoed in the headdress, composed of a high central shell and small lateral fins, with striations running through them to create particularly dynamic patterns. As Perrois notes, "okuyi masks were used to connect the living with the dead, capturing the latter's occult forces". The dancers performed acrobatic feats perched on high stilts, much to the delight of the spectators, but also to their great fear, as the masks were above all powerful police instruments in the handling of legal cases and the initiation of young boys.