Kota Ndumu Figure

A remarkable example of the Ndumu style, this reliquary guardian figure was notably featured in the landmark exhibition "Les Forêts Natales" (Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris,2017), which highlighted the great classical art of Gabon.

Established in the region of the Upper Ogooué River in Western Gabon, the Kota attach fundamental importance to ancestor worship. The sculptures that they use for worship purposes – in particular the Mbulu-ngulu, the guardians of reliquaries – are imbued with force, mystery and sacredness.
These ritual guardian figures punctuate and animate Kota society. Aside from the role they have related to ancestor worship, they also appear during transmission and justice ceremonies, and for hunting and curing rituals. Originally installed atop circular baskets containing the bones and skulls of important ancestors, Mbulu-ngulu were kept away from the village, in an enclosure whose access was limited to those among the initiated specifically authorized to consult the ancestors.
These sculptures are constructed around a core of wood which is covered with a delicately crafted metal decoration. The power attributed to the sculpture originates in the metal stripes or plates that cover it. Among its properties, copper was particularly known for longevity and power.
Effigies of this type, with their heavily abstract stylization, have been an object of admiration since the « discovery » of African art by Westerners at the beginning of the 20th century. Kota figures inspired numerous modern artists, from Pablo Picasso to Paul Klee.