Zemanek-Münster

Reliquary figure "mbulu" or "mwete" ·  Gabon, Kota · ID: 3032629

sold EUR 32,000
Provenance
Samuel Dubiner, Tel Aviv, Israel
Christie’s London, March 18, 1980, lot 315
Richard Rüegg, Zurich, Switzerland
Size
H: 60 cm
H: 23.6 inch

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.


The object Reliquary figure “mbulu” or “mwete” with the object ID 3032629 was part of the auction 69th tribal art auction on June 2, 2012. The object with the lot number 198 achieved a sales price of EUR 32,000 with an asking price of EUR 6,500.

You can find more Figures and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.


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 1961


Exhibition

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


Subscribe to our newsletter

Join over 10,000 tribal art collectors. Don't miss out on upcoming news and auctions.

Subscribe today