BAKOTA

GABON

These figures (up to 60 cms high) were used to guard requilary baskets (Mbumba) of the Bakota people. The baskets contained some skull remains and other objects of specifically magical value. In this category of masks are large figures representing founding fathers, with the smallerones commemorating less important individuals. Each sculpture had an individual name know to all the villagers. These pieces were the representatives of the ancestors and received propitiatory offerings. They formed an essential link between these ancestors and the living.