Mukuyi from Gabon 9 inch 2 kilos solid sterling silver.
Story of the recreation of the Punu MuKu
After the recreation of a Dan mask from Liberia and the Ivory Coast, I stumble on the picture of this Punu mask from Gabon while browsing African art on the internet at (www.masksoftheworld.com). I felt immediately attracted and mesmerized by it. I found the mask so unique that I decided to send the picture to a jeweler casting company that also specializes in large casting. I asked the master caster if the picture that I sent him will be sufficient to have him do a 3D imaging of it than the recreation in sterling silver while keeping the approximate original size and proportions mentioned in the Branli museum in Paris. Incidentally, I recently found out that this same mask is the illustration of Wikipedia African sculpture.
Niani gallery is committed to limited production of “6” Punu Mukuyi masks. This is 1/6.
Here is the excerpt of www.masksoftheworld.com
speaking about the original Punu Mukuyi mask from Gabon.
"This white-faced maiden is sometimes mistaken for a character from the Japanese Noh theater. It is from the Musee du quai Branli and is one of the best Punu masks I have ever seen. Think how this highly abstracted sculpture would have shocked European artists in the late 19th century.
The Punu were originally part of the Luango kingdom of Angola in the 18th century and settled in the south and southwest Gabon. In the Mukuyi society, it represented a female guardian spirit in the funerary rites, initiation of adolescent girls, and ancestral cult. At the burial ceremonies of this Punu society, the mask represented a female ancestor. This mask has a face painted bright white with kaolin, and wonderfully styled eyes, nose, and mouth that look much different than the people living in this region. In the Mukuyi society the masked persons, often on stilts, performed acrobatically at the dance of the full moon symbol of fertility".
2-How was this mask made?
Lost-wax casting is a process for creating objects, from simple to complex, in a variety of metals (such as gold, silver, brass, or bronze) by casting an original model or pattern. It is one of the oldest known metal-forming techniques dating back 6,000 years, but it is still widely used for producing jewelry, dentistry, and art.
The casting in silver or gold of a 10-inch art piece is a reproducing prowess that can only be accomplished by incredible technology and hand-finished by an expert polisher.
this is the reason that I entrusted one of the best know casting companies: City casting.Co in the famous diamond district in New York on 47Th street to accomplish this phenomenal recreation of this Punu Mukuyi mask in sterling silver.
The task took a month and it was done thru
3D recreation from a picture than the lost-wax casting process