NDASSA
NDASSA
Reliquary figure
From Seka-Seka, near Akiéni (Haut-Ogooué, Gabon). 20th century.Height: 58 cm.An IR spectroscopy dating certificate (G. Matthaes patent) from the Museo d’Arte e Scienza, Milan, no. 6AF-3704, indicates the date as 1939 ± 8 years.Convex skull, concavelower face. Ancient wooden core, heavily worn on the back, covered with a full brass veneer.The back of the reliquary, reinforced by two brass staples, features a raised diamond shape (symbolising the female sex, the source of all human life).The forehead is convex, whilst the lower part of the face is concave. The absence of a mouth expresses the silence of the invisible world. The neck and the upper part of the wooden core are covered with a brass veneer on which diamond- and triangle-shaped symbols are marked.
NDASSA
Reliquary figure
From Seka-Seka, near Akiéni (Haut-Ogooué, Gabon). 20th century.Height: 58 cm.An IR spectroscopy dating certificate (G. Matthaes patent) from the Museo d’Arte e Scienza, Milan, no. 6AF-3704, indicates the date as 1939 ± 8 years.Convex skull, concavelower face. Ancient wooden core, heavily worn on the back, covered with a full brass veneer.The back of the reliquary, reinforced by two brass staples, features a raised diamond shape (symbolising the female sex, the source of all human life).The forehead is convex, whilst the lower part of the face is concave. The absence of a mouth expresses the silence of the invisible world. The neck and the upper part of the wooden core are covered with a brass veneer on which diamond- and triangle-shaped symbols are marked.
