A very old statuette illustrating the ideal of feminine beauty in Punu country, with a delicately modeled face characteristic of the finest white okuji masks, she wears a beautiful coque hairstyle and four braids, the volumes of the body are modeled, rounded and well rhythmized, also noteworthy is the significant scarification all over the back half of her back. She holds an object in each hand, perhaps as a sign of welcome, or implying a dance. According to Alisa LaGamma (in Horstmann, Formes et Figures, 2002, p. 136) "figurative works of this type illustrate a regional portrait tradition created to serve as an investigative tool for ritual specialists", for therapeutic or protective purposes. These sculptures, when they are as old as this one, are very rare witnesses, and in addition to her beautiful scarifications, we'll note a rarely encountered detail: a small bracelet made from a plant fiber that remains attached and very tight to her left arm. Punu or Lumbu, Gabon Wood, kaolin, vegetal fiber bracelet (small lack), visible lack on the back of one foot, very nice old oxidation of the wood, and very nice old patina. H. 26 cm Provenance : Philippe Ratton and Daniel Hourdé, Paris Collection Hilde and Dieter Scharf, Hamburg, acquired 1994