Tribal Art

This bifaced African sculpture is believed to be associated with the serpent naja. The baskets containing the relics of illustrious ancestors, generally surmounted by two reliquaries, were kept in the temples of the village. One of them embodied the founder of the lineage, and the second his descendants. A large openwork plate encircles the faces, concave on one side, convex on the other. Repoussé engraved copper sheets combined with parallel metal wires provide a carefully alternated decor. Minor crazing and abrasions.
The worship of ancestors, the bwete (Northern Kota) was at the heart of the social and religious life of the Kota and presents many analogies with that of the Fang . In the exclusive presence of initiates, the major decisions of the clan were taken during ceremonies during which the reliquaries were taken out and used. In order to reactivate the magic charge, the initiates rubbed the relic with sand. Among the Kota, these figures have reached an astounding degree of stylization and abstraction: reduced to shoulders and "arms" surmounted by a large face, the latter can be concave (feminine) or convex (male).