Gambia - Punu Mask

Gambia
Punu Mask
Accompanied by its certificate of authenticity
Mid-20th century
Dimensions: 39 x 23 cm / 0.800 kg
Wood
Optional pedestal (contact us)

This piece illustrates one of the many headdresses of Gambia's white African masks, Itengi, (plural: Bitengi). These African Gambian masks were associated with its various secret societies, including the Bwiti, Bwete, and the Mwiri ("to direct"), the latter spread out in several levels of initiation, to which all Punu men belonged and whose emblem was the caiman. The punu did not involve any mask in the rituals of the Bwiti, unlike the Tsogo.

These powerful secret societies, which also had a judicial function, included several dances, including the leopard dance, the Esomba, the Mukuyi, and the Okuyi dance, on stilts, remaining the most widespread. This kaolin-bleached face mask was exhibited during the dance called Okuyi. These keloids marks are associated, according to some authors, with the nine clans that founded the Kongo kingdom.