Janushead of a reliquary ensemble "bwete"

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Description

wooden core, coated with various pieces of copper sheet, attached with metal clamps which are arranged like fine seams, the separate worked half-spherical eyes and tapering noses fixed with nails, metal collar around the neck, elaborate work, in good condition, block-like socle;
the Shamaye and the neighbouring Obamba used wooden heads of small size, like the present, for their reliquary ensembles.

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Expertise

Galerie Le Cabinet de Curieux, Thierry Ruby, Paris, France

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Comparing literature

Paudrat, Jean-Louis, The Way of the Ancestors, Paris 1986, ill. 38 a, b

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