Mbulu ngulu (image of the dead)
Not on view
Richly contrasting precious metals were pounded flat and artfully applied to enliven this planar representation of a Kota ancestral guardian. While regional artists were endlessly inventive in addressing this theme, they consistently used two design elements to allude to the role their works played in mediating between the living and the departed: the cruciform that divides the face and the diamond-shaped division at the base. Both are symbolic notations for the cosmos and the journey into the afterlife.
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