Gabon or Democratic Republic of the Congo - Reliquary Guardian Figure - Kota Ndassa
Gabon or Democratic Republic of the Congo
Reliquary Guardian Figure Kota Ndassa
Height: 51 cm - with base 53 cm (sold with base)
Width: 24cm
Wood, copper and brass
Around 1950 - 1960
The Kota, as well as the Mahongwé, Ndassa, Shamaye, Obamba (which are ethnic sub-groups) are renowned for their reliquaries.
Initially, the Kota used to leave their dead exposed to the elements, in the forest.
Under the influence of neighboring tribes, they began to bury their chiefs, then to exhume their bones (mainly the skull) to place them in bark boxes or baskets called bwété, on which a statue was
placed.
Of these boxes or wicker baskets rarely complete, we know above all the sculptures which surmounted them, intended to warn of the forces of the invisible likely to lessen the supernatural power of
the relics.
"Such reliquaries were entrusted to clan chiefs who kept them hidden, sometimes harnessing the power of the relics for the benefit of the clan.
When serious crises affected the village (a village bringing together several clans), the chiefs gathered their reliquaries in order to perform rites.
This cult was known as bwiti by the Mahongwé and their neighbors, for whom the guardians constituted the "faces" of the bwété. Each image had its name, its specific powers.
This cult was known as bwiti by the Mahongwé and their neighbors, for whom the guardians constituted the "faces" of the bwété. Each image had its name, its specific powers.
Source: Branly Museum
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