Kota-Mahongwe Bwete Cult Reliquary Figure African

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Kota-Mahongwe Bwete Cult Reliquary Figure African:
$350.00

TitleKota-Mahongwe Bwete Cult Reliquary FigureType of ObjectFunerary reliquaryCountry of OriginGabonPeopleKota (Ossyeba or Mahongwe)MaterialsWood, Copper Alloy Sheet and wire, raffia fibers, bamboo, cotton cloth Approximate Age20th Century Dimensions26.5 inches H. x 9 inches W. Overall ConditiongoodDamage/Repairloose head wth cracks, indigenous repair on one leg, age crack s in body

Additional Information:

This unusual full stylized figure with brass covered wooden head and neck and a body made in wood and wearing a raffia skirt and a cotton cloth cache sexe. The figure is has a dynamic expression. It seems like it is dancing. This is a reliquary figure that reflects a tradition among a number of different people living in Gabon and the Republic of Congo that is well documented as early as the last quarter of the nineteenth century.Though a 20th century example it has many of the characteristics of the earlier reliquaries found among the various Kota related groups including the Kota-Mahongwe.

Identified as the Ossyeba, the Kota-Mahongwe have the most stylistically abstracted Bwete reliquary figures with concave spear shaped heads.The Kota people share with a number of neighboring peoples the use of abstracted sculptures and ceremonies in service to a cult practice known as Bwete.The focal point of Bwete rituals are reliquary containers made of bark or basketry holding magical objects or the bones of ancestors. Among the Kota-Mahongye, the bwete reliquaries would be grouped together under a small shelter in the village metaphorically gathering the different lineages and clans in symbolic union.Highly abstracted guardian figures are attached to the top of the Bwete reliquaries depicting founders of the clan and important individuals.These figures also served to protect the relics from malicious actions of witches and malefactors and themselves were handled with care and reverence.To add to their visual impact the heads are covered with either copper or brass sheeting.This 20th century example reflects the shape of tradition in modern interpretations of the ancestral figures.

Recommended reading:

Brazza, P.S. \'Voyages dans l\'ouest Africain\'.Le Tour du Monde,no. 44. 1887

_______:\'Voyages dans l\'ouest Africain\'. Le Tour du Monde,no. 45. 1888

Chaffin, A.\'Art Kota\'.Arts \'Afrique noire, no. 5. 1973

Perrois, L.Sculpture traditionelle du Gabon, Paris. 1977

_______:\'Arts du Gabon, Les arts plastiques du Bassin de l\'Ogoue\',

Arts d\'Afrique Noire, 1979

_______:Arts ancestral du Gabon dans les collections du Musee Barbier-

Mueller, (Geneva, 1985)

Phillips, T, (ed.)Africa, The Art of a Continent, (Munich, 1995)

Schmalenbach, W. African Art from the Barbier-Mueller Collection, (Geneva, 1988)

Siroto, L.East of the Atlantic, West of the Congo; Art from Equatorial Africa,

(Seattle, 1995)

I have examined this piece and agree with the description.
Niangi Batulukisi, PhD,

**82633**

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