Reliquary guardian figure "boho-na-bwete" ·  Gabon, Kota, Haut-Ogoooué, Southern Obamba (Mbangwe) · ID: 3052705

Description

wood, metal sheet,

For comparable works, presumably by the same artist, see AHDRC 0048118 and 0223602 (last of which was published by A. and F. Chaffin, 1979).

Robert Lehuard, author of Notes d’un voyage au Moyen-Congo 1924-1933, lived in Brazzaville for twelve years and collected three figures of this type among the southern Kota.

Louis Perrois explains in Arts du Gabon: Les Arts Plastiques du Bassin de l’Ogooué (Arnouville, 1979, p. 172 f.), that the origin of this specific Kota style can be traced precisely to the family of sculptors who lived in the village of Otala, north of Akiéni on the Lekoni River. The Otala clan, from which the village takes its name, is related to the Obamba of Séré.

The most important artist from Otala was Chief Okwéré, a prominent figure in the “ndjobi” initiation cult. According to Perrois, Okwéré was already very old at the time of his research and came from a distinguished family of chiefs and artists. He was the grandson of the renowned artist Aligni, who died at an advanced age around 1920.

Comparing literature

Chaffin, François & Alain, L'Art Kota, Meudon o. J., p. 249 Perrois, Louis, Arts du Gabon, Paris 1979, p. 173, ill. 168

Publications

Lehuard, Raoul, De l'origine du masque 'tsaye, in: Arts d'Afrique Noire 4, (1972:27), photo 3