Reliquary Figure

19th century

African Art

On view, 1st floor, African Art

Kota reliquaries emphasize the head. From this stylized, flattened rendering of the human head with a popular nineteenth-century men's coiffure extends a lozenge representing an abstraction of the upper body. A basket or bundle containing ancestral remains was attached to this schematic representation of the body. Several such reliquaries were housed in a community enclosure for the unity of local ancestors who were called upon to enhance the reproductive capacity of their descendants. The metals attached to the surfaces of the reliquary figures helped avert evil spirits and added prestige because of their great value. Kota reliquaries feature a formal play between concave and convex surfaces. The concave faces are reputedly female; the convex, male.

Medium

Wood, brass, copper, iron, and cowrie shells

Dimensions

28 1/8 × 14 3/4 × 2 3/8 in. (71.5 × 37.5 × 6 cm)

Credit Line

Charles B. Benenson, B.A. 1933, Collection

Accession Number

2006.51.85

Geography

Gabon

Culture

Kota

Period

19th century

Classification

Sculpture

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Given as a gift to a Swedish missionary, 1914, and transferred to Stockholm, 1917 [see note 1]; by descent to his daughter, Mrs. Nyren, Stockholm; sold to Michael Oliver, Inc., Ethnographic Art, New York; sold to Charles B. Benenson (1913–2004), New York, June 12, 1981; gift to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2004

Note 1: The 1981 invoice of the sale of Reliquary Figure to Charles Benenson, states: "This Bakota was given to a Swedish missionary in 1914, and was brought by him to Stockholm in 1917. The object has remained in the custody of his family and was acquired directly from his daughter, Mrs. Nyren, who still resides in Stockholm." (Invoice, Michael Oliver, Inc., June 12, 1981, curatorial object file)
Bibliography
  • Frederick John Lamp, Amanda Maples, and Laura M. Smalligan, Accumulating Histories: African Art from the Charles B. Benenson Collection at the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2012), 73, 120, fig. 17
  • "Acquisitions, July 1, 2006–June 30, 2007," in "Japanese Art at Yale," special issue, Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2007), 4, ill
  • "Acquisitions, July 1, 2005–June 30, 2006," in "Photography at Yale," special issue, Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2006), 222
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

figures (representations), reliquary figures

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