Reliquary Guardian Figure (Mbulu Ngulu)

Gabon or Republic of Congo, Ivindo River region
Kota peoples, Mahongwe group

Across Africa, ancestors are venerated for the continuing aid they are believed to provide for the living, including help in maintaining the productivity of the earth for bountiful crops. In Cameroon and Gabon, ancestor veneration takes the form of cranial and other other bones gathered in special containers or reliquaries.

The Kota once used reliquary guardian figures (mbulu ngulu) to protect and demarcate the revered bones of family ancestors. The bones were preserved in containers made of bark or basketry. The mbulu ngulu stood atop this bundle, bound to it at the figure’s lozenge-shaped base. It is thought that the figurative form of the mbulu ngulu was intended to reinforce and communicate the reliquary’s intense power. Kota mbulu ngulu are unique among African sculptural forms in their combination of wood and hammered metal.