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Reliquary guardian figure 'mbulu' or 'mwete'
Kota, Gabun

wooden core, nearly entirely coated with brass and copper sheet, oval facial plane with tapering chin, the actual facial features arranged within the lower face half, crowned by a sickle-shaped coiffure and flap-like projections on both sides, enlivened by change of material (brass- and copper sheet), the contours accentuated by punched dots and lines, the neck merging into a diamond-shaped handle, which originally was inserted into the lid of the skull basket, diamond-shaped ornament with middle strut backside, slightly dam., minor missing parts (metal coating), on base;
present head sculptures were mostly made by the village blacksmiths, which explains their simple reduced form and their liking for using metal.
The Kota people used to fix these stylized head sculptures on top of boxes containing the skulls and bones of important ancestors. They should protect the valuable contents. Housed on a shelf outside the village, the figure was carefully polished with sand to maintain its shining surface which should keep sorcerers away.
H: 51,5 cm, (5237/020)

Provenance:
Old French Collection
Gerard Wahl Boyer, Paris, France

Lit.: Kecskési, Maria, Afrikanische Kunst, Ausst.kat., München 1976, p. 126 f.
Perrois, Louis, Arts du Gabon, Paris 1979, ill. 201-203

Reliquary guardian figure 'mbulu' or 'mwete'
Kota, Gabun

wooden core, nearly entirely coated with brass and copper sheet, oval facial plane with tapering chin, the actual facial features arranged within the lower face half, crowned by a sickle-shaped coiffure and flap-like projections on both sides, enlivened by change of material (brass- and copper sheet), the contours accentuated by punched dots and lines, the neck merging into a diamond-shaped handle, which originally was inserted into the lid of the skull basket, diamond-shaped ornament with middle strut backside, slightly dam., minor missing parts (metal coating), on base;
present head sculptures were mostly made by the village blacksmiths, which explains their simple reduced form and their liking for using metal.
The Kota people used to fix these stylized head sculptures on top of boxes containing the skulls and bones of important ancestors. They should protect the valuable contents. Housed on a shelf outside the village, the figure was carefully polished with sand to maintain its shining surface which should keep sorcerers away.
H: 51,5 cm, (5237/020)

Provenance:
Old French Collection
Gerard Wahl Boyer, Paris, France

Lit.: Kecskési, Maria, Afrikanische Kunst, Ausst.kat., München 1976, p. 126 f.
Perrois, Louis, Arts du Gabon, Paris 1979, ill. 201-203