African Arts Gallery

African figure associated with the mythical ancestor Oso of the Kouyou, a neighboring group of the Punu in the Republic of Congo. The face and body bear numerous scarified designs, and the mouth reveals sharp teeth.
Polychrome matte patina. Erosions and cracks from desiccation. In the past, the Kouyou were divided into two totemic clans: in the west that of the panther, and in the east that of the snake. A secret male association, Ottoté, played an important political role in the appointment of chiefs. The initiation of young men ended with the revelation of the serpent god Ebongo represented in the form of a head. The Kibe-kibe or Kebekebe dances, which accompanied the ceremony, reactivated the successive stages of creation. The panther clan had a drum as its emblem. For its part, the snake clan had carved heads, painted in bright colors, on sticks that the manipulator, concealed under a long robe, held with his hands stretched above his head.
"African art" Mazenod