African Arts Gallery

This traditional African mask from Gabon with a face whitened with kaolin, evocation of a deceased woman, appeared during the Okuyi dance and cults dedicated to the ancestors, ritual practices shared with the Punu. Within the group named Shira, the Lumbu Loumbu, Balumbu, of Bantu origin and originating from the Congo kingdom, settled on the coastal part of Gabon, and in the Republic Congo, in the middle Ogooue. They keep the bones of their ancestors in reliquary baskets adorned with statuettes and other prestigious objects.
Lumbu and Punu produced these similar looking white masks, the carvers copying each other and the masks could be made for another group. Abraded matte patina.
Ref. : "Punu". L. Perrois and C. Grand-Dufay; "Art and Kongos" M.L. Felix.

The sculpted miniatures of the Kongo clans of northeastern Mayombe.
The small Kunyi group, surrounded by the Beembe, Yombe and Lumbu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is famous in African art for its miniature statuettes embodying founding ancestors or clan leaders, many of them being represented kneeling. This figurative female figure wears a headdress divided into three braided lobes, linear checkerboard keloids are inscribed on her face, and numerous bracelets adorn her wrists. The child she holds on her back offers exaggerated proportions.
Shiny orange dark brown patina, desiccation cracks and lack (child's foot).

It was during the Okuyi dance and the cults dedicated to the ancestors, ritual practices shared with the Punu, that this type of traditional African mask appeared, evoking a young deceased woman. The softly modeled face is free of scarifications. The presence of horns would probably be associated with a bush spirit.
Within the group named Shira, the Lumbu Loumbu, Balumbu, of Bantu origin and originating from the Congo kingdom, settled on the coastal part of Gabon, and in the Republic Congo, in the middle Ogooue. They keep the bones of their ancestors in reliquary baskets adorned with statuettes and other prestigious objects.
Among the Lumbu, the boyo is a local equivalent of the mwiri: he was responsible for maintaining order and making women obey. Manifesting itself ...

This African mask is one of the stylistic variants of Gabon's white masks, itengi , (pl. bitengi) with a subtle-shaped face. In early art, this tribal mask from Gabon was associated with the various secret societies of Gabon, including the Bwiti , Bwete , and the Mwiri ("le"), the latter spreading into several levels of initiation, to which all the Punu men belonged, and whose emblem was the Caiman. The punu did not involve any masks 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 dance of the Okuyi, on stilts, remaining the most widespread. Within this group, the Lumbu, Loumbu, Balumbu, located on the coastal part of Gabon and in the ...

The mask opposite is one of the stylistic variants of the white masks of Gabon, itengi , (pl. bitengi)with a subtly modeled face.
In early art, this Gabonese tribal mask was associated with the various secret societies of Gabon, including the Bwiti , Bwete , and the Mwiri ("directing"),the latter of which ranged in several levels of initiation, to which all Punu men belonged, and whose emblem was the caiman.

These powerful secret societies, which also had a judicial function, included several dances, of which the dance of the leopard, the Esomba ,the Mukuyi ,and the dance of the Okuyi , on stilts, remained the most widespread. Within this group "Shira" the Lumbu, Loumbu, Balumbu, settled on the coastal part of Gabon, and in the Republic of Congo, are settled ...

African figure wearing a three-lobed headdress of the same type as that of neighboring Punu. The sculpture depicts a woman of solid constitution with rounded shapes, placing her hands on a parturient abdomen, and established on semi-flexed legs. The Punu and Lumbu statues are always female. Crusty kaolin patina. Erosions.
The Punu are a Bantu people of Central Africa, established mainly in southern Gabon, also in the Republic of Congo in the Niari region. They live in independent villages divided into clans and families. Social cohesion is ensured by the Moukouji society, whose essential role is to subjugate the evil spirits of the forest. Within this same group named Shira, the Lumbu, Loumbu, Balumbu, settled on the coastal part of Gabon, and in the Republic of Congo, keep the ...

Kneeling female figure, with medicine charges in the cavities sealed with glass. The mediumistic gaze illustrated by black pupils behind shards of glass links this type of statuary to the nkisi of Kongo productions. Chipped satin patina.
The Punu are a Bantu people of Central Africa established mainly in southern Gabon, also in the Republic of Congo in the Niari region. They live in independent villages divided into clans and families. Social cohesion is ensured by the Moukouji society, whose essential role is to subjugate the evil spirits of the forest. Within this same group named Shira, the Lumbu, Loumbu, Balumbu, settled on the coastal part of Gabon, and in the Republic of Congo, keep the bones of their ancestors in reliquary baskets decorated with statuettes and other ...

The African mask opposite constitutes one of the stylistic variants of the white masks of Gabon, itengi , (pl. bitengi)with a subtly modeled face.
In the earliest art, this tribal mask of Gabon was associated with the various secret societies of Gabon, including the Bwiti , Bwete , and the Mwiri ("directing"),the latter of which ranged in several levels of initiation, to which all Punu men belonged, and whose emblem was the caiman.

These powerful secret societies, which also had a judicial function, included several dances, of which the dance of the leopard, the Esomba ,the Mukuyi ,and the dance of the Okuyi, on stilts, remained the most widespread. Within this group "Shira" the Lumbu, Loumbu, Balumbu, settled on the coastal part of Gabon, and in the Republic of ...

Within the group named Shira , the Lumbu Loumbu, Balumbu, or Mbumba, of Bantu origin and native to the Congo Kingdom, settled on the coastal part of Gabon, and in the Republic of Congo, in the Middle Ogooue. They keep the bones of their ancestors in reliquary baskets decorated with statuettes and other prestigious objects. This sculpture featuring a female figure leaning or lying on a basket-drawn stretcher, evoking a deceased woman, was also exhibited during ceremonies of the Bwiti, a cult of ancestors also shared by the neighbouring Tsogho. Magical ingredients (bilongu) were encased in the hole on his abdomen, usually hidden behind a mirror fragment as in the neighbouring Kongo. The matte, dry patina has erosions, a damaged headdress and legs. The character's arms are articulated.

Within the group called Shira , the Lumbu Loumbu, Balumbu, of Bantu origin and from the Congo Kingdom, have settled on the coastal part of Gabon, and in the Republic of Congo, in the Middle Ogooue. They keep the bones of their ancestors in reliquary baskets decorated with statuettes and other prestigious objects. This cephalomorphic sculpture featuring a kaolin-bleached face, evoking a deceased woman, was also brandished at Bwiti ceremonies, a cult also shared by neighbouring Tsogho. The cheekbones are high, the eyelids are incised, and the chin is pointed. Behind a headband, the hair is separated on either side of a stripe in thick braids joining in the neck. Among the many hair constructions of these Clans of Gabon, the hairstyle Kodia represents the spiral shell of a snail. This ...