This outstanding piece is the best such item we have
seen in terms of stylistic conceptualisation,
execution and preservation. It is a reliquary figure
made by the Kota group of Gabon, with the
conventional wishbone base, short “body” and
outsized, deconstructed head with ornate “coiffure”
and flanges to either side with downwards-
protruding wound-wire eminences. The entire
surface is covered with thin, wound metal strips and
plate sections. The face is dished with a cruciform
design that bears the dome-shaped eyes and the
thin, triangular nose. The remainder of the face is
decorated with diagonal hatching. Detailing is largely
pecked dots, while the body is decorated with
diamond-shaped hatching.
The Kota live in Eastern Gabon, and are comprised of
various subunits including Ndambomo, Mahongwe,
Ikota-la-hua, Sake, Menzambi and Bougom, some of
which can also be differentiated artistically (see
below). Their society is largely egalitarian and
gerontocratic, their economy based upon hunting
and agriculture. Their relaxed social structure
reflects their previous mobility – they moved into the
area from the North during the 18th century – which
is also perhaps the cause behind their unusual
mortuary rituals in which they were basically able to
take their ancestors with them wherever they went.
The Kota originally exposed their dead, but started to
bury them following influence from neighbouring
groups. The remains (especially skulls) of prominent
personages were then exhumed and placed into
baskets (Bwete), which were defended by carved
figures decorated with metal plates or wire. These
figures diversified according to the geographical
distribution of the subgroups, and together they are
among the most famous and recognisable symbols
of African art. Their radical deconstructivism of the
human form had an enormous influence on the 20th
century development of Western art styles, and exert
a powerful fascination to historians of African art.
There are six forms, based around the proportions of
the face, the nature of the wire/plate metal and the
superstructures, such as headpieces or superfluous
decoration. By being covered primarily with strips of
brass (probably originally cut from colonial food
plates), with round, domed eyes and the oval face
with ornate coiffure, it most probably belongs to the
Kota (sensu stricto) style. Almost all Kota pieces are
rare as many traditional practices – including
masquerades and the reliquary system – have been
either suppressed or have gone out of fashion. To
compound matters, many older items were
intentionally destroyed in the 1940’s to 1960’s by the
“Culte de Demoiselles”, who went out of their way to
destroy traditional culture in an attempt to mimic
western lifestyles.
This is a dramatic and impressive piece of African
art.
