Gabonese Osseyba or Reliquary Figure, Based

A face of worked metal, a crescent overhead, and a job that was never casual.

This osseyba or reliquary figure is Kota / Mahongwe, from Gabon, Central Africa, 20th century, in brass and copper over carved wood, and it stands on a base. Kota peoples traditionally set such figures above containers holding ancestral relics, where they served as guardians. Fine metal strips run in hatched patterns across the face and the broad crescent above it, with pierced openings on each side. The nose is long and the eyes are outlined. A slim neck meets an open diamond-shaped base. Twenty-eight and a quarter inches high.

Small, flat and entirely serious.