Reliquary guardian figure "mbulu-ngulu" ·  Gabon, Kota · ID: 3038920

Description

wood, metal sheet and tags, enlivened by metal plating from various materials, typical sickle-shaped coiffure and projections on both sides, the neck merging into a diamond-shaped handle, min. dam., fine cracks and traces of insect caused damage at the back, base;
the ancestral cult forms the centre of the religious and social life within the family collective. When a patriarch died various relics were taken from his body and were kept in wickerwork baskets with stylized figures on top. Each family clan owned such a reliquary ensemble, which were all kept in the background of the chiefs hut. At initiation rites the family clans gathered and each clan leader performed a dance holding the respective reliquary in his hands.

Comparing literature

Perrois, Louis, Kota Ancestors, Paris 2011, p. 53