Gambia - Punu Mask

Gambia
Punu Mask
Accompanied by its certificate of authenticity
2nd half 20th century
25 x 38 cm / 0.700 kg
Wood
Optional pedestal (contact us)

A refined example with balanced, gently rounded volumes, this African mask illustrates one of the many variants of the headdresses that accompany Gambia's white masks, Itengi, (pl, Bitengi). In primitive art, this tribal Gambian mask was associated with the various secret societies of Gambia, including the Bwiti, Bwete, and the Mwiri ("directing"), the latter spreading to several levels of initiation, to which belonged all Punu men, 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, evocative of a deceased woman, was exhibited during the dance named Okuyi. Classically capped with shells on which streaks represent the braids, the checkered scarifications mabinda, often tinged with red ocher, present on the forehead and temples, are here tinged with red ocher and black. These keloid marks are associated, according to some authors, with the nine clans that founded the Kongo kingdom.