Gabonese Osseyba or Reliquary Figure

A shield of hammered metal around a face with nothing to prove.

Kota Mahongwe artists of Gabon, Central Africa, made this osseyba, or reliquary figure, in brass, copper and wood in the 20th century. Figures of this type were commonly placed on containers of ancestral relics as guardians. A tall, leaf-shaped face of brass sheet is incised with fine lines and split down the middle by a copper ridge. Small round eyes look out, and short pendants hang at the sides. Below, a dark wooden lozenge stands in for the body, and the whole figure is mounted on a slim stand.

About 15 inches tall. Dazzling in raking light, composed in all the rest.