Antique Punu Mask from Gabon West Afrca 14x10 in Clock the mother decorated with jewelry

the mother decorated with jewelry holding her baby

for entertainment

Many dark Ibibio masks have distorted facial features that are interpreted as advanced states of disfiguring tropical diseases

they do not represent spirits of the wilderness

Clan members meet only for the ancestral cult and to celebrate initiations

Antique Punu Mask from Gabon West Afrca 14x10 in Clock the mother decorated with jewelryThis is an old collectible one of a kind African Mask from Gabon in West Africa. Punu masks represent idealized female ancestors' faces. The white color of the mask is genderless; white is a symbol for peace, deities, spirits of the dead, and the afterlife. It is thus the predominating color in funeral celebrations and memorials. Therefore the masks were worn during funerals. They appeared also in the magical rites whose function was to unmask