African Tribal Art - Punu Mask

French collection.

The white masks of Gabon, called itengi (plural: bitengi), were linked to various Gabonese secret societies, such as the Bwiti, the Bwete, and the Mwiri ("to rule"). The latter, reserved for Punu men, included several levels of initiation, its emblem being the caiman, which for some explains the saurian scale motif. These powerful secret societies, which also played a judicial role, included various dances, including the leopard dance, the Esomba, the Mukuyi, and the Okuyi, the latter being a widespread acrobatic dance on stilts. In some villages, at dawn or dusk, the Okuyi was accompanied by chants in an esoteric language accessible only to initiates. (References: "Punu", L. Perrois and C. Grand-Dufay; "Masques du Gabon", ed. Sillages.)

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