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Africa Hongwe peoples, Mekambo area, Gabon Reliquary Figure, Bwiiti Wood, brass H. 23 in. (55.9 cm) Raymond and Laura Wielgus Collection The Hongwe preserved the skull and certain bones as powerful relics of the deceased and kept them in containers protected by figures, such as this, which are considered to be symbolic ancestral portraits. The large size of this figure suggests that it represents a clan founder. |