Reliquary Head

This reliquary head formerly belonged to Katharine Ordway, heiress to the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company and renowned art collector and philanthropist. Her collection of modern art, some of which can be seen on the third floor of the museum, also included non-European works, to show their influences upon the European artists. The Fang reliquary head was one of the masterworks in Ordway’s possession. The formal appearance of such head sculptures held an enormous appeal for European modernist artists, who referenced them in a number of works. Together with Kota reliquaries, these sculptures continue to rank among the highest-priced works of African art today.