Punu mask from Gabon. Over 40 years old. Piece on base.

The Punu (also called Bapunu, plural of Mupunu) form an ethnic group mainly distributed in the south of Gabon. The Punu migrated to southern Gabon (in the Ngounié basin) in the 18th century. 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. Their language is Yipunu. Yipunu speaking people are found mainly in the provinces of Ngounié and Nyanga. The large concentrations are the towns of Mouila, Ndendé (Ngounié); Tchibanga and Moabi (Nyanga). Today, we must add cities like Lambaréné (Moyen-Ogooué) and even the country's capital Libreville. In terms of number of speakers, Yipunu ranks second, after the Fang language. In Gabon, in the Ngounié basin, the mukuyi commemorates the deceased. Mounted on huge stilts, a masked dancer, whose body is hidden under a fabric garment - formerly made of raffia - performs acrobatic figures while brandishing a fly swatter in each hand. Mukuyi masks are supposed to represent ancestors, sometimes female. The enigmatic face of the mask is slightly triangular. Under the closed eyes, stretched almond-shaped, and as if swollen with sleep, the high cheekbones become rounded. The number and arrangement of scarifications vary from one style or ethnic group to another. The most common pattern, in the form of scales, includes nine diamonds. This distinctive sign, called mabinda, was engraved in the flesh of children, around the age of ten to fourteen. The Punu live mainly in Gabon. They are renowned for the mysterious beauty of their masks with their white face painted with kaolin and the extreme finesse of their lines. Their masks present their ideal of feminine beauty. They express the serenity of the elders who protect and advise them from the kingdom of the dead. They are used by dancers during funeral rites. Black masks have a judicial function. The frontal or temporal scarifications in the shape of a diamond of nine points represent their cosmogony and evoke the notion of perfection and wisdom. The central point is the creative principle (God) which gave birth to the four cardinal points (the world) as well as to the two primordial couples (humans)