SANGO RELIQUARY FIGURE
SANGO RELIQUARY FIGURE
SANGO RELIQUARY FIGURE
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SANGO RELIQUARY FIGURE

GABON

Details
SANGO RELIQUARY FIGURE
GABON
Height: 16 1⁄2 in. (42 cm.)
Provenance
Loudmer-Poulain, Paris, 14 June 1979, lot 119
Georges Frederick Keller (1899-1981), Paris/Davos
Paolo Morigi (1939-2017), Lugano, in 1981
Philippe Ratton-Daniel Hourdé, Paris
Guy Laliberté Collection
Literature
Lehuard, R., Arts d’Afrique Noire, no. 39, Arnouville, autumn 1981, inside-back cover
Germain, J., Arts anciens de l’Afrique Noire, vol. I, Montreal, 2002, pp. 54-55, no. 21
L’oeil, no. 544, Paris, February 2003, p. 17
Herreman, F., Material Differences. Art and Identity in Africa, New York, 2003, p. 150, no. 118
Seleanu, A., « A la découverte de l’art africain traditionnel » in Vie des Arts, no. 226, Montreal, spring 2012, p. 54
Perrois, L., Kota, Milan, 2012, no. 56
Exhibited
Paris, Ratton-Hourdé Gallery, Kota, June 2003
New York, Museum for African Art, Material Differences. Art and Identity in Africa, 10 April - 15 August 2003
St. Paul, Hamline University, Material Differences. Art and Identity in Africa, 5 March - 22 May 2004
Ottawa, National Museum of Canada, Material Differences. Art and Identity in Africa, 17 September 2004 - 2 January 2005
Sacramento, Crocker Art Museum, Material Differences. Art and Identity in Africa, 2 April - 19 June 2005
Montreal, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Afrique Sacrée I. Collections du MBAM, du Cirque du Soleil et du Musée Redpath de l’Université McGill, 6 June 2006 - 7 September 2008
Further details
FIGURE DE RELIQUAIRE SANGO, GABON

Brought to you by

Alexis Maggiar
Alexis Maggiar International Head, African & Oceanic Art, Vice Chairman of Christie's France

Lot Essay

It was in the vicinity of Loango, at the end of the 19th century, that the first photographic evidence of these mbumba reliquary figures appeared. This photograph by Prosper Augouard shows the nganga diviner positioned behind three Sango reliquary figures, stylistically similar to our example (cf. Perrois, L., Arts du Gabon, Arnouville, 1979, p. 229, no. 240).

According to Louis Perrois, these protective effigies, linked to ancestor cults, are in the Okande style, a people who occupied the Middle Ogooué. The main characteristics can be summed up as ‘a head perched on a long neck decorated with copper plates and finished with a [rhombic] base. The [flat] head is oval with large eyes, often made of buttons, and the mouth is rarely depicted’ (ibid, 1979, pp. 221-224).

This masterpiece of Gabonese art, within the limited corpus, still wrapped in its skirt, is a masterpiece of abstraction. The copper strips attached to the face - sometimes pitted - as well as the harmonious and subtle arrangement of the blades covering the tubular headdress testify to its incredible quality of execution. The decades of ritual use are palpable through the glossy wood patina.

For similar examples, see the one in the Dapper Foundation, inv. no. 0628, published in Boyer, A.-M. et alii, Chefs-d’oeuvre d’Afrique dans les collections du Musée Dapper, Paris, 2015, p. 30, or the one in the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, inv. no. EO.1979.1.127, published in Chaffin, A. and F., L’art kota. Les figures de reliquaire, Meudon, 1979, pp. 290-291, no. 174.

C’est aux environs de Loango, à la fin du XIXe siècle, que le premier témoignage photographique de ces figures de reliquaire mbumba apparaît. On aperçoit sur ce cliché de Prosper Augouard, le devin nganga campé derrière trois figures de reliquaire sango, stylistiquement analogues à notre exemplaire (cf. Perrois, L., Arts du Gabon, Arnouville, 1979, p. 229, n° 240).

Selon Louis Perrois, ces effigies protectrices liées aux cultes des ancêtres sont de style Okandé, peuple qui occupait le moyen Ogooué. Les caractéristiques principales se résument à « une tête juchée sur un long cou décoré de plaquettes de cuivre et terminé par un piètement [rhombique]. La tête [plane], de forme ovale, comporte de gros yeux souvent faits d’un bouton et la bouche est rarement figurée » (ibid, 1979, pp. 221-224).

Ce chef-d’œuvre de l’art gabonais, au sein du corpus restreint, encore enrubanné de sa jupette, est un chef-d’œuvre d’abstraction. Les bandes de cuivre fichées au visage - parfois piquetées - ainsi que la disposition harmonieuse et subtile des lames recouvrant la coiffe tubulaire témoignent de son incroyable qualité d’exécution. Les décennies d’usage rituel sont palpables par la patine du bois lustré.

Pour des exemples analogues, voir celui de la Fondation Dapper, inv. n° 0628, publié dans Boyer, A.-M. et alii, Chefs-d’œuvre dAfrique dans les collections du Musée Dapper, Paris, 2015, p. 30, ou encore celui conservé au Royal Museum for Central Africa de Tervuren, inv. n° EO.1979.1.127, publié dans Chaffin, A. et F., Lart kota. Les figures de reliquaire, Meudon, 1979, pp. 290-291, n° 174.

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