Kota reliquary figure, Gabon Base made by... - Lot 95 - Giquello

Lot 95
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Estimation :
80000 - 100000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 104 000EUR
Kota reliquary figure, Gabon Base made by... - Lot 95 - Giquello
Kota reliquary figure, Gabon Base made by Kichizo Inagaki (1876-1951) before 1939 Wood and brass H. 39 cm Kota reliquary figure, Gabon H. 15 3/8 in Provenance: - Charles Ratton (1895-1986), n°2420/2 on the back - Henri Hoppenot (1891-1977), diplomat - Private collection Since the colonial annals of the end of the 19th century, the name Kota has been used to designate a group of Bantu-speaking populations occupying the whole of eastern Gabon as far as the Sibiti region of the Congo. Their social organization is typically clan-based and their habitat dispersed, even if some villages could include up to a hundred huts. The history of their migrations has been meticulously studied by the ethnologist Louis Perrois. The mobility of the Kota populations has led them to adopt a way of preserving their ancestral relics that is typical of the populations of Gabon and southern Cameroon. The bones were kept in small baskets of sewn bark and woven wicker, which were very easy to carry when they were forced to leave their territory. At the top of these ossuaries was placed a carved wooden effigy plated with copper and brass representing a human face, an ancestral figure designed for protection. The whole was kept away from profane eyes in a consecrated place where only the high ranking initiate could penetrate. The contemplation of these figures, combined with the absorption of psychotropic drugs, played a fundamental role in the initiation ceremonies of young men. The mbulu-ngulu reliquary figure was an icon, the visual marker of a world where the ancestors continue to watch over their descendants. In Kota country, it was an essential "tool" for the survival of groups, allowing recurrent communication between the living and the dead. (Louis Perrois, Kota, 5 continents, 2012) Separated from their sacred baskets, which the Kota fiercely protected, the sculptures were sold very early on to Europeans, whose particular aesthetic and haughty appearance appealed to them, and twentieth-century artists soon made them icons of African art. Picasso owned at least two of them, Fernand Léger drew them during his studies for the New World Ballet in 1922, Juan Gris, who was not very wealthy, made them out of cardboard cut-outs and painted them, and Arman collected them all his life with a frenetic passion. Even today, the Mbulu-Ngulu remains a strong symbol of pre-colonial African art. Despite the large number of reliquary figures in Western collections, it was not until Alain and Françoise Chaffin's study in 1979 that a first morphological classification could be established. The Kota stylistic chain runs from North to South, showing very distinct scripts ranging from the rigorous abstraction of the northern Mahongwe to the greater realism of the southern groups. The Kota Hoppenot is a superb illustration of the freedom and creativity of the northern styles. His headdress is abstracted while his face, schematized to the extreme, blossoms. Its sculptural qualities did not escape the attention of the famous dealer and collector Charles Ratton, who entrusted it to Kichizo Inagaki to make the pedestal.
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