African Arts Gallery

Tsogho Vuvi ancestral mask (N° 12996)

Ofading African Okuyi masks of the Punu Shira tribes, African masks produced by the peripheral groups, Vuvi, Galoa and Mitsogho, are also covered with white pigments for apotropaic purposes. Some, polychrome like our copy, have red ochre highlights. The slanted visor headdress, reminiscent of a hair fashion in the Shira group, was the front part of a hairstyle with shells. Devoid of scarifications, it has a nose and a triangular mouth highlighted by the bulging of the cheeks, seeming to form a breath. An appendage like a handle allows it to be placed in front of the face. A raffia collar embellishes the whole thing. The ethnic group Mitsogho is established in a forested area on the right bank of the Ngoumé River. The company Bwiti , which has a reliquary system comparable to that of the Fang and Kota, formed the cohesion of the mitsogho families. Their masks were displayed at the funeral, and stored in the men's initiation house ebanza . The Vuvi produced relatively comparable masks, influenced by the proximity of the Mitsogho.