Item Description: This reliquary guardian figure is known as mbulum’boi. It is a flat wood structure with the front covered with annealed copper leaf from top of crest to knees. An abstract figure made of wood and copper with brass appliqué of nose and mouth. The figure is mounted on a wooden base decorated with 4 cowries that served as a lid to a box/basket.

Cultural Profile: The Equatorial forest peoples of this Gabon region use these figures to protect relics from evil forces and to help the living appeal to ancestors for assistance in day to day living. This type of figure was placed on (instead of in) a bag or basket/box that held the long bones and skull of the founding ancestors of the clan.