Reliquary BaKota people, Gabon H 20.5 in. x W 13 in. x D 2.5 in. H 52.07 cm x W 33.02 cm x D 6.35 cm Since the 19th Century, the Kota and Mahongwe peoples made reliquaries to stand guard over bark boxes that contained the bones and remains of important ancestors. This sculpture’s top flange represents a popular 19th C. coiffure or hairstyle, and the bottom diamond-shaped lozenge represents an abstracted body. The large central head is fabulously stylized in a way that influenced the modern artists beginning with Picasso. Its concavity and its ringlets may reveal this ancestor was a female. Long in an extended family notably involved in the art business and in art collecting, in Chicago, Arizona, and California. Accompanying the piece is an authentication by Raoul Lehouard in which he adds that it is an “ancient” example. $24,000
