SANGO STYLE RELIQUARY FIGURES, Gabon H'=46”

Figures like these, smaller and less familiar than Bakota and Mahongwe religuary guardians, were usually placed in basketry containers holding relics of important clan ancestors. Sheathed in metal (brass or copper), the figures are abstracted into a diamond shape below the neck. Sango 3 is mounted on an iron gong.

The Kota used reliquary guardian figures to protect and identify the revered bones of family ancestors. The Kota believed that the relics of important men and women retain power after death, providing protection and good fortune to an individual's descendants.