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Reliquary Figure
Wood, metal

Kota, Gabon

Fred and Rita Richman Collection, 1984.298

Reliquary figures were traditionally used by
the Fang and Kota of Gabon and Congo to
guard ancestral remains contained in bark,
basketry, or fiber boxes. The figures conform
to stylistic conventions that include an oval
face, an open, diamond-shaped "body" or base,
and curvilinear forms projecting from the
head, which have been interpreted as
elaborate coiffures.