Kota Reliquary Figure with Mask on Verso, Based

Among the Kota, the honored dead were given a guardian sheathed in copper.

This reliquary figure with a mask on the verso is Kota work from Gabon, 20th century, made of copper and wood. Kota families traditionally kept the bones of revered ancestors in baskets or bundles, and figures of this kind were set above them as protectors. Fine copper wires run in close parallel lines across a broad oval. A hammered strip descends the center to two round bosses and a narrow nose. Below, a dark wooden stem curves to form an open lozenge, set on a base. It stands 18.5 inches high.

It was made to keep watch. It has not looked away.