Reliquary figure "mbulu" or "mwete" · Gabon, Kota · ID: 3032629
Christie’s London, March 18, 1980, lot 315
Richard Rüegg, Zurich, Switzerland
Description
wood, brass and copper sheet, metal nails and -clamps, an oval hollowed face, enlivened by metal plating from various materials, typical sickle-shaped coiffure and projections on both sides, the neck merging into a diamond-shaped handle, which originally was inserted in the lid of the skull receptacle, rep., min. dam., minor missing parts through insect caused damage, slight traces of corrosion;
among the Kota, all images of ancestors are positioned above ancestral baskets, or “usuwu”, to which they were attached. 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.
Comparing literature
Lagamma, Alisa (ed.), Eternal Ancestors, New York 2007, p. 256, ill. 80
Publications
Expo cat.: "African Art Collection Samuel Dubiner", Tel Aviv 1960; "African Art Collection Samuel Dubiner", Jerusalem 1960; "African Art Collection of Samuel Dubiner", Tokyo 1961Exhibition
Tel Aviv: "African Art Collection Samuel Dubiner", Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv, January 1960 Jerusalem: "African Art Collection Samuel Dubiner", Bezalel National Museum, Jerusalem, 7 August-7 October 1960. Tokyo: "African Art Collection of Samuel Dubiner", Tokyo, National Museum, 31 June 1961