Two-faced reliquary "mbumba bwiti" · Gabun, Kota-Sango · ID: 3052816
Price
EUR 2,500plus 27 % commission, VAT, transport and insurance
Provenance
American Private CollectionSize
H: 39 cm
H: 15.4 inch
Description
wood, encrusted sacrificial patina, base
This is a reliquary finial with two faces from the cultural context of the Kota-Sango. Such figures served as protective and mediating elements atop containers that held ancestral remains.
They act as symbolic guardians, marking the presence of the forebears and regulating ritual access to them.
Comparing literature
LaGamma, Alisa (ed.), Eternal Ancestors, New York 2007. S.107-113