Reliquary Figure in a Basket

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Culture Sangu

Title Reliquary Figure in a Basket

Date Unknown

Medium Wood, metal, fiber, leaves, primate skull, and and bone

Dimensions Object: 14 3/16 × 11 1/8 in. (36 × 28.3 cm)
Overall: 14 3/16 × 11 1/8 in. (36 × 28.3 cm)

Credit Line Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 78.59

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About this Work

Among various peoples of Gabon, bones–particularly skulls–of important deceased relatives were preserved as the focus for appeals to their spirits for help. The bones were kept in baskets or boxes topped with reliquary figures believed to protect the relics while honoring the ancestors.

The skull in this basket is not human, but rather that of another primate. It is unknown whether the substitution was made while the shrine was still being used (perhaps for a lost or damaged ancestral skull), or whether the switch was made when the basket and figure were sold.

Provenance
More Details

Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Reliquary Figure in a Basket | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=78.59