Acrylic on linen canvas, 120 x 120 cm

ORIGIN : Punu mask of 31 cm

PUNU people in central Africa

Made of : wood

Last seen : Sold 357 000 EUR by Sotheby’s Paris in 2017.

This white mask is placed at the apogee of a tradition where, through the exaltation of beauty, the religious and profane notions of the sacred are closely intertwined. The okuyi dance, which gave its name to the white masks of the South Gabon region, united the community during its major events: at times of mourning, during the birth of twins, during rituals of initiation, or even in order to ritually settle arguments between groups, through jousts of palaver.

Referring to the “woman ancestor”, the mask “had the religious function of linking the living to the dead, with a role of capturing their occult forces” (Perrois and Grand-Dufay, Punu, 2008, p. 43). His sacred power was signified through the virtuosity of the dancer - perched during his performance on tall stilts - and the beauty emanating from his sculpted face.

The life-size face thus exalts the signs of feminine beauty. Their most often codified transcription sometimes responds, as here, to the power of transcendence instilled by the inspiration and talent of the sculptor. (Source Sotheby's)