Mahongwe reliquary figure, Gabon, wood, copper (plinth) - Lot 125

Lot 125
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Estimation :
1500 - 2500 EUR
Mahongwe reliquary figure, Gabon, wood, copper (plinth) - Lot 125
Mahongwe reliquary figure, Gabon, wood, copper (plinth) Mahongwe reliquary figures are very rare, much rarer than those of the Kota. They all come from the Makokou-Mekambo region in eastern Gabon, on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. At a time when these effigies were still in use, Catholic missionaries strove to destroy them in order to eradicate these objects of worship. However, many of them were thrown into wells or swamps to be saved. Like the mbulu ngulu reliquary figures of the Kota, the much rarer bwété of the Mahongwe were attached to the basket containing the relics of the lineage's most important ancestors, held in place by a ribbon of bark. Symbolic portraits, they offer a strikingly modern plastic design and beauty.
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