Lotto 102 | A fine African Kota reliquary guardian

Guidoriccio Casa d'Aste - Via ferraris 128, 52100 AREZZO

A fine African Kota reliquary guardian

A fine African Kota reliquary guardian
Gabon - Kota people
Wood covered with copper wire and hammered sheets of metal.
Large reliquary figure Mbulu Ngulu. Figures like this, characterized by their severe appearance and magnetic gaze, were thought to be placed at the center of the family sacred reliquary inside which were kept the venerated skull bones of the ancestors. These bones were preserved in containers made of bark or basketry and the Mbulu Ngulu stood atop bound to it to protect the sacred bones and seal its contents to avoid potential dangerous spirit contamination from the world of the dead to that of the living.
H cm 77