Wood covered with copper sheets of typical abstract form, bi-planar facial features, sickle-shaped coiffure, long neck merging to a rhomb-shaped handle. Compare to Perrois, Louis, Arts du Gabon, Paris 1979.
The Kota once used reliquary guardian figures (mbulu ngulu) to protect and demarcate the revered bones of family ancestors. The bones were preserved in containers made of bark or basketry. The mbulu ngulu stood atop this bundle, bound to it at the figure’s lozenge-shaped base. It is thought that the figurative form of the mbulu ngulu was intended to reinforce and communicate the reliquary’s intense power. Kota mbulu ngulu are unique among African sculptural forms in their combination of wood and hammered metal.
Provenance:
- Old English collection
- Howard Nowes, Art for Eternity Gallery, New York, USA
- Chris Wild, London, UK
Exhibited & vetted
- San Francisco Tribal Art Show 2010, Art for Eternity
- Tribal Art London, 2016, David Malik African Art
David Malík PhD
Founder/Director
