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Descrizione : Additional Information:  ,An unusual figural vessel made out of  ,of wood  ,with four legs, with around four figures of copper alloy. The lid is topped with a Janus seated reliquary figure  ,with  ,copper repoussee.Each reliquary figure around is separated with a carved raised form. The figures are obviously of Kota /MaHongwe style and recall the Kota reliquary figures decorated with sheets of copper alloy.  , Little is known about this amazing piece, It form suggests that was used as ritual bowl or a container for ancestors relics or a shrine piece!. In fact, ancestor worship formed the core of the Kota peoples' religious and social life. At the death of a chief, parts of his body would be decorated with metal and rubbed with magical powders. These would be kept in baskets surmounted by stylized figures which the Europeans called naja because they resembled the head of an erect cobra. ,The figures were covered with copper or brass. At the time of the initiation into the secret society, each clan's chief would dance, holding the reliquary. The reliquaries were kept outside homes, and only the initiates of the lineage had access to this sacred place. The MaHongwe are linked to the Kota but have developed their own style. The brass sheet and narrow strip-covered wooden sculptures were known to the MaHongwe as 'osseyba'. They were placed on the baskets which contained relics of venerated ancestors and recognized members of the lineage. ,As part of an ancestor cult known this vase was placed in village temples and generally consisted of two types of figures: one full seated figure and the heads.The Janus figure on the top may represent the founder of the lineage and the cast copper alloy heads around the vessel could be  ,the descendant of the lineage. ,The formal sculptural presentation of the figures was often enhanced by brass sheets worked in a repousse technique (sheet metal worked by pressure from the rear to form a design) and by brass metal strips worked in design across the face of the sculpture. (See Kerchache et al ART OF AFRICA) Numbering about 30,000, the Kota share language and culture with a constellation of smaller ethnic groups living in Gabon and along the western reaches of the People's Republic of the Congo. The focal point of Bwete rituals, the reliquary containers were made of bark or basketry. The figures on top of the reliquary also served to protect the relics from malicious actions of witches and malefactors and themselves were handled with care and reverence. It is in the stylistic development of the heads where regional and ethnic variations are most apparent. Complete figures will range from approximately 30 to 60 centimeters in height. This late example of reliquary sculpture is similar to those from the southern Kota-Obamba. Obamba reliquary sculpture is known as mbulu ngulu--spirits of the dead or “basket figure”. I have examined this piece and agree with the description. Niangi Batulukisi, Ph.D.
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