Kota Obamba Reliquary, Gabon - Lot 156

Kota Obamba Reliquary, Gabon H. 65 cm L. 31 cm Settled in eastern Gabon's Haut-Ogooué province, at Okondja and Ondili, the Obamba people are a Bantu people of Central Africa. According to Alain and Françoise Chaffin's classification (L'art Kota, Meudon, 1979), this reliquary belongs to group 17, corresponding to the Obamba of the Mounana-Moanda region. Composed of a hardwood core plated with hammered and molded copper leaf on the facial part, bronze or brass on the eyes, upper cap and lateral crescents, this reliquary figure features a concave oval face clad in alternating smooth bronze plates forming a cross-shaped motif contrasting with the lamellar hammered copper plates. With crescent-shaped eyes and a triangular nose, the mouth reveals a slight smile. At the lower end of the wide, fan-shaped headdress, a hatched frieze appears, hammered with diamond-shaped geometric decoration. The sides each support a meticulously crafted counterpart. The neck features an unusual pattern of striated triangles hammered into the bronze. No patina. Expert : Aurore KRIER-MARIANI - +33 (0)6 17 18 11 36