Anthropomorphic mask - Wood - Ikwara - Punu - Gabon

Anthropomorphic Ikwara Mask Punu culture, southern Gabon. First half of the 20th century. Wood and pigments. Height: 32 cm; Width: 17 cm; Depth: 13 cm. (ancient damages) Facial mask with an oval face, entirely pigmented with black. The eyes are open-worked into thin incisions placed between eyelids in coffee beans. The latter are highlighted by eyebrows shaped in half-moons. The nose is thin, the ears carved in relief are in the form of a C, and the lips are hemmed, separated one from another. It is marked with significant scarifications on the cheeks, starting from the lip corners. The hairdo is arranged in an important central hull, incised with thin striations in oblique, referring to the hairstyle of the Punu. On the border of the mask, a recess of the wood forms a collar, enabling to maintain fabric of vegetable fibres, to hide the wearer’s body. Unlike the white Punu masks named Okuyi, referring to ancestor figures, the Ikwara masks belong to societies which aim is to maintain law enforcement.