Gabonese Janiform Osseyba or Reliquary Figure, Based

Rows of metal, two round eyes, and a long, level gaze.

This janiform osseyba, or reliquary figure, is Kota / Mahongwe, from Gabon in Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is brass and copper over carved wood. Among the Kota peoples such figures were traditionally set over containers holding ancestral relics, as guardians of the dead. A broad, rounded face is covered in tight rows of metal strips, with a central band and raised eyes. A wrapped crest rises above, and metal bands bind the narrow wooden stem below. Just under twenty-nine inches high.

It was made to watch, and it looks straight ahead.