Kota Reliquary Figure, Gabon

Pace Primitive, New York
Balene McCormick, Santa Fe, acquired from the above on March 2, 1981

Very good condition for an object of this type and age. Marks, nicks, scratches, abrasions and dents and bending to metal throughout. The diamond-shaped lozenge with cavities and erosion from insect damage and two vertical age cracks. The reverse with crusty blackened aged patina. The metal elements with fine aged surface of two colors of copper as shown, with residue and oxidation. The foot embedded with a modern square metal sleeve for attachment to base. Old rectangular paper label with handwritten: "[...] 'Galle' / ogoué / grand fetiche des Bakoutas / [?]ème siecle [...]".
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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For a closely related Kota reliquary statue seeGuimiot and Van de Velde (1977: 9)

LaGamma (2007: 109-110) notes: "In contrast to Fang sculptors, who carved highly volumetric full-length figural elements, Kota artists developed a comparatively flattened two-dimensional genre of ancestor representation to accompany relics.  Underlying the design of both Kota and Fang figuration, however, is a similar approach in building form from clearly delineated component elements.  The focus of the Kota imagery is invariably on the head, supported by a cylindrical neck tha terminates in an open lozenge.  This schematic distillation of the body at the base was placed within or affixed to a basket or bark bundle that served as a receptacle for ancestral relics.  The few contextual references to Kota reliquaries available from the early twentieth century suggest that multiple figures often accompanied a single receptacle.  A large ensemble of such reliquaries was housed within a communial enclosure so that they collectively generated a powerful visual impact. [...]  The metals so artfully applied to the surface of Kota representations were chosen because their great value added prestige.  When an individual died, he was buried with his most important possessions, which were metal artifacts representing his wealth.  Through harnessing these costly metals to enhance idealized images of the ancestors, Kota lineages honored them with the most precious materials available.  The process of creating the figurative elements designed to be placed in relic containers was largely an additive one in which brass, copper, and iron were manipulated to be layered and affixed to a wood understructure. Metal pounded into flat sheets was cut and applied to the surface.  Often artists skillfully combined different metals in order to highlight specific features with contrasting colors.  Given that the technical skills required to smelt metals were highly specialized ones attributed to spiritual intercession, the very act of their manufacture was by definition identified with exceptional creative abilities.  The process of designing the complex variegated compositions that were applied carefully and analytically to the surface is essentially a demanding form of collage.  In light of Picasso's familiarity with this tradition and the face that he owned several examples of Kota sculpture, the method of cutting and combining different metals onto a flat surface developed by Kota artists may have served as a source of inspiration for his own interest in collage."