Mask - Gabon (No reserve price)
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Kota monoxyle African sculpture from Gabon portraying a founder of lineage, partly metal-plated with a concave ogive face, seated on a stool with anthropomorphic legs and a back reliquary containing nails and textile, in good condition with age-related cracks and losses.
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Description from the seller
) African tribal art of the Kota. Embodying a founder of the lineage, this monoxylous African sculpture, partly clad in metal, stands out for its ogive-shaped face with a concave profile, yielding a spherical forehead. The statue sits on a stool with anthropomorphic feet, echoing motifs of ancestral figures. The back, functioning as a reliquary, contains a cavity in which nails and textile can be discerned within a resinous mass.
Cracking from drying and losses. The ancestor cult, the bwete (Northern Kota), was at the heart of Kota social and religious life and bears many analogies with that of the Fang. In the exclusive presence of initiates, the great clan decisions were made during ceremonies during which reliquaries were taken out and used. To reactivate its magical charge, the initiates rubbed the reliquary with sand.
) African tribal art of the Kota. Embodying a founder of the lineage, this monoxylous African sculpture, partly clad in metal, stands out for its ogive-shaped face with a concave profile, yielding a spherical forehead. The statue sits on a stool with anthropomorphic feet, echoing motifs of ancestral figures. The back, functioning as a reliquary, contains a cavity in which nails and textile can be discerned within a resinous mass.
Cracking from drying and losses. The ancestor cult, the bwete (Northern Kota), was at the heart of Kota social and religious life and bears many analogies with that of the Fang. In the exclusive presence of initiates, the great clan decisions were made during ceremonies during which reliquaries were taken out and used. To reactivate its magical charge, the initiates rubbed the reliquary with sand.
Details
Era
After 2000
Number of objects
1
Material
Wood
Country of origin
Gabon
Condition
Good condition - used with small signs of aging & blemishes
Height
66 cm
Width
13 cm
