Reliquary guardian figure "mbulu-ngulu" or "boho-na-bwete" · Gabon, Kota · ID: 3052083

Name: Reliquary guardian figure "mbulu-ngulu" or "boho-na-bwete"
SKU: 3052083
Price: 3500 EUR
Availability: SoldOut

Sold EUR 3,500

Provenance

Louis Pieter Cornelis van Rijn, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Galerie Kephri) (ca. 1979)
Italiaander Galleries, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Werner & Lotte Krause, Hamburg, Germany (1987)

Size

H: 59,5 cm

H: 23.4 inch

Description

wood, metal, base

The Kota believed that relics of important men and women possessed great power and could grant protection to descendants and bring good luck. Therefore, skulls and bones were kept together with magical substances in woven baskets (“musuku mwangudu” or “usuwu ngulu”).

These containers are crowned with figurative sculptures made of wood and brass, which are thought to embody the guardian spirits of the ancestors dwelling within them.

The object Reliquary guardian figure “mbulu-ngulu” or “boho-na-bwete” with the object ID 3052083 was last part of the auction Auction 105 at November 15, 2025 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 210 achieved a sales price of EUR 3,500.

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