Barry Kitnick, Los Angeles
Pace Primitive, New York
Myron Kunin, Minneapolis, acquired from the above on September 26, 1997

Very good condition overall, with wear consistent with age and traditional use. A stable open crack to the centre top of the headdress, into the rim. An old loss to the tip of the proper left side of the coiffure (above the ear). A cylindrical hole to the top of the mask, now used for the mount. Some minor nicks, chips, scuffs, and scratches in places.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The famous white masks of the Punu and Lumbo peoples were worn during the okuyi performance (LaGamma 1995 calles them mukudj'), one of the rites of mwiri, an important male initiation society spread throughout southern and central Gabon.  The okuyi masks appeared during community rituals linked to important events of village life (funerals, end of mourning, youth initiation, transgressions of clan orders, birth, epidemics, etc).

Representing female entities from the world of spirits or the dead, the masks capture an ideal of beauty. They are characterized by a face with youthful features, half-closed eyelids under slightly raised arching eyebrows, a fine realistically-rendered nose, a mouth pursed forward with full red-painted lips, and an elaborate crested coiffure. The two-crested hairstyle of the present mask is particularly prestigious.  Varying by region, some masks have lozenge-shaped scars on the front and quadrangular patterns on the sides, punctuated by thick "scales" painted in bright red.  These nine scales in relief evoke not only the nine mythical primordial clans from which all Punu-Lumbo groups derive, known in oral traditions by the name Bayaka, but also the crocodile as a totemic animal.

These masks were also amongst the first African objects to receive recognition from modern artists. See Rubin (1984: 300) for a photograph taken in 1910 in Picasso's studio, showing a white okuyi mask on the wall.

The present mask is of particularly balanced and naturalistic proportions, expressing well the classic type of idealized female beauty of the okuyi masquerade.