Black mask

Black mask "Ikwara-mokulu", Pounou, Gabon, first half of the 20th century.
In carved wood.
Provenance: J. Guardiola collection (died in the 60's). Family relations would indicate that J. Guardiola acquired this piece, among others, from his relative and explorer, Luis de Lassaletta between 1943 and 1951. Lassaletta (1921-1957) was a renowned Spanish expeditionary to Africa in the 1950s. Lassaletta was a brilliant connoisseur of West Africa, speaking several indigenous languages of present-day Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Cameroon, Congo and Nigeria. European private collection (on the figure of Lassaletta, see other pieces in this auction, references and links).
Measurements: 30 x 20 x 10 cm; 45 cm. total height.

It is known that among the Punu and Lumbu of southern Gabon (Mouila-Ndendé and Tchibanga-Mayumba areas) the "white" masks of the mukudj' dance (also called mukuyi or okuyi) have been abundant over time. On the contrary, the "black" masks, always considered dangerous and evil for those who handled them or for those who saw them performed, were rarely shown to European travelers. These masks were kept secret. Alisa LaGamma, in her Ph.D. D. dissertation (LaGamma 1995), an extensive field research on southern Gabon and neighboring Congo, clearly separates the functions of the two types of Punu masks: on the one hand, the classic white mukudj 'mask characterized by a female face of idealized beauty; it was displayed at all events of community life; on the other, the ikwar 'or ikwara mask, with the same morphology but darker, appeared only after the decisions of the "judges" (LaGamma 1995:159). Both dances are an integral part of mwiri rituals, the main institution of male initiation in the cultural area of southern Gabon (Punu-Lumbu, Shira, Nzebi).