Currently not on view
Reliquary figure (mbulu ngulu),
late 19th–early 20th century
The Hongwe and Kota people created bark boxes and woven baskets to preserve relics of important ancestral leaders—usually their skulls or other bones—in the shared belief that extraordinary powers survived the death of the body. The relics were guarded from malevolent forces by figures sculpted from wood and overlaid with plaited metal. While not naturalistic portraits, the stylized figures, with their serene countenance and staring eyes, suggest an idealized depiction of a wise ancestor. Although numerous similar figures were traded to the West, complete reliquaries, each consisting of a container of bones and a stylized figure, rarely left Africa intact.
Information
late 19th–early 20th century
Africa, Gabon
[J.J. Klejman, New York, NY]; Michael Kan, Brooklyn, NY before 1968; Doreen Chu Jagoda; [Michael Oliver, New York, NY by 1978]; Holly and David Ross, Princeton, NJ. 1978-2016; Princeton University Art Museum, 2016
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Alain and Françoise Chaffin, trans. Carlos E. Garcia,<em> L'art Kota: les figures de reliquaire</em> (Meudon, France: A. and F. Chaffin, 1979)., p. 316, pl. 199
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Warren M. Robbins and Nancy Ingram Nooter, <em>African art in American collections, survey 1989</em> (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989), p. 341, pl. 886
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'Wande Abimbola et al, Secrecy: African art that conceals and reveals (Munich: Prestel, 1993), p. 152, cat. no. 75
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Alisa LaGamma et al, <em>Eternal ancestors: the art of the Central African reliquary</em> (New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press, 2007), pp. 226-227
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<p>"Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2016," <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</em> 75/76 (2016-17): 126-157.</p>, p. 147
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The Museum regularly researches its objects and their collecting histories, updating its records to reflect new information. We also strive to catalogue works of art using language that is consistent with how people, subjects, artists, and cultures describe themselves. As this effort is ongoing, the Museum’s records may be incomplete or contain terms that are no longer acceptable. We welcome your feedback, questions, and additional information that you feel may be useful to us. Email us at collectionsinfo@princeton.edu.
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