Eternal Ancestors: The Art of the Central African Reliquary

LaGamma, Alisa, ed., with contributions by Barbara Boehm, Elias K. Bongmba, Kairn Klieman, Alisa LaGamma, Denise Patry Leidy, and Louis Perrois

2007

368 pages

233 illustrations

American Association of Museums Award for Outstanding Exhibition Catalogue, Honorable Mention (2007)

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Table of contents

About the authors

Praise

Director's Foreword
Philippe de Montebello

Acknowledgments
Alisa LaGamma

Lenders to the Exhibition

Map: Cultural Regions Represented by Works in the Catalogue

Eternal Ancestors: The Art of the Central African Reliquary
Alisa LaGamma

Of Ancestors and Earth Spirits: New Approaches for Interpreting Central African Politics, Religion, and Art
Kairn Klieman

The Western Historiography of African Reliquary Sculpture
Louis Perrois

Ancestor Veneration in Central Africa
Elias K. Bongmba

"To learned people this may seem to be full of superstition": Reliquary Sculpture in the Medieval Christian Tradition
Barbara Boehm

The Body Eternal: The Aesthetics of Equatorial African Reliquary Sculpture
Alisa LaGamma

Catalogue

Central African Reliquaries
Alisa LaGamma

Other Works

Bibliography
Index
Photograph Credits

Met Art in Publication

291 – Picasso-Braque Exhibition, Alfred Stieglitz American, Platinum print — 291 – Picasso-Braque Exhibition
Alfred Stieglitz
1915

Reliquary with Contents, Schist with traces of gold leaf, Pakistan (ancient region of Gandhara) — Reliquary with Contents
ca. 1st–3rd century

Portrait of an Old Lady, Ruan Zude Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, China — Portrait of an Old Lady
Ruan Zude
dated "xinyou" (1561 or 1621?)

Ngombi (arched Harp), Wood, skin, vegetable fiber, leather, Fang/Kele people — Ngombi (arched Harp)
19th century

Reliquary Bust of Saint Yrieix, Silver and gilded silver with rock crystal, gems, and glass, French — Reliquary Bust of Saint Yrieix
ca. 1220–40, with later grill

Rosary, Ivory, silver, and partially gilded mounts, German — Rosary
ca. 1500–1525

Reliquary Casket, Marble with traces of paint in modern incised decoration, Byzantine — Reliquary Casket
6th century

Arm Reliquary, Silver, gilded silver, niello, and gems; wood core, South Netherlandish — Arm Reliquary
ca. 1230

Virgin and Child in Majesty, Walnut with paint, tin relief on a lead white ground, and linen, French — Virgin and Child in Majesty
ca. 1175–1200

Figure from a Reliquary Ensemble: Seated Female, Wood, metal, Fang peoples, Okak group — Figure from a Reliquary Ensemble: Seated Female
19th–early 20th century

Sculptural Bust from a Reliquary Ensemble (The Great Bieri), Fang-Betsi artist, Wood, metal, palm oil, Fang-Betsi — Sculptural Bust from a Reliquary Ensemble (The Great Bieri)
Fang-Betsi artist
19th century

Reliquary: Standing Male Figure, Wood, pigment, metal, cowrie shells, Kota peoples, Mbete group — Reliquary: Standing Male Figure
19th century

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LaGamma, Alisa, Barbara Drake Boehm, and Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), eds. 2007. Eternal Ancestors: The Art of the Central African Reliquary. New York : New Haven: Metropolitan Museum of Art ; Yale University Press.

Eternal Ancestors: The Art of the Central African Reliquary

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