Cleveland Museum of Art

Sculptural Element from a Reliquary Ensemble (mbulu ngulu)

Date

probably 1800s

Medium

Wood, copper alloy, and iron

Culture

Africa, Central Africa, Gabon, Kota-style maker

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The ethnic map of eastern Gabon is extremely complicated as a result of continuous migratory movements since the 17th century. Kota is the name of one of three culturally closely related people. All share the tradition of commemorating and honoring ancestors through the preservation and worship of sacred ancestral relics within cylindrical bark containers or bound in fiber packets. Covered with sheets of copper and brass, this abstract wooden human-shaped figure—distilled to a planar surface—served as a guardian set atop a basket container holding the skull, certain bones, and other relics of a deceased man. It belonged to a religious institution that honored the memory of individuals who made major contributions during their lifetime. The luminosity of the copper and brass covering was considered intimidating and spiritually empowered to deflect harm and thus protect the owner and his family. The diamond-shaped "body" of this sculpture was originally pushed into a container of ancestral relics (bones) up to its "shoulders." Metal covers only areas of the wood that were left visible.

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