Mbulu ngulu reliquary figure Kota Obamba, Gabon Brown... Lot 39

Mbulu ngulu reliquary figure Kota Obamba, Gabon Brown wood with brown patina, brass, copper, iron H. 60 cm Provenance : - Jean de Cours (1887-1974), administrator of the colonies in Congo from 1907 to 1932 - Passed on by family descent An ancient mbulu ngulu carved in hardwood plated with copper and brass, which the Obamba, Kota population of Haut-Ogooué, appreciated and played with the chromatic contrast. The characteristic concave face is crossed by a long axial band with guilloche edges. A vertical frieze marked with chevrons, stopped by the description of the nose in high relief and piercing the band, decorates the forehead. The copper-coloured half-moon eye is applied, and centred by a short clasp allowing it to be hung on the junction with a second, transverse headband. In four peripheral quarters around this cruciform motif, copper plates are worked with a succession of horizontal stripes. On either side of this beautiful face, the side wings form two sober panels also marked horizontally by guilloche, and decorating the folded edge of a metal plate on the other. On the right, a pendant has survived. At the top, a large crescent decorated with a triple pointillist row, echoing the motif running around the rim of the wings. Finally, the lozenge, intended to set this object in a reliquary box, is also plated on its upper half with metal, worked like the whole work, in repoussé. The soul of the wood appears here in all its antiquity: vigorous tool marks, patina with a deeply encrusted lustre. This beautiful material is also revealed on the wall of the face, which is smoother, but just as noble. On the reverse, a sober vertical oblong element. Brought back to Toulouse to his family by Jean de Cours, after one of his missions in Africa (where he took an active part in the 1914-1918 conflict), this work very probably dates from the 19th century. Its aesthetic qualities, its archaic type, the fine stripes resulting from the passage of sand to make this ancestor figure shine, allow us to consider it. Expert: Emmanuel Mennuet.