https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/95627/fullReliquary guardian figure (Mbulu-Ngulu)late 19th century-early 20th century[]Wood and brassReliquary figure in highly abstract anthropomorphic standing figure adorned with plated brass. This guardian figure consists of only a large head, neck, and arms. In its original context, the figure would have been fitted to the top of a woven raffia ossuary basket containing the skulls and bones of ancestors, as well as medicines and significant objects. These portable reliquaries allowed the semi-nomadic Kota peoples of the past to transport their revered forbearers. An ossuary with its attached guardian figure was either left in the open outside the village or placed alongside others in a communal sanctuary. Initiated male members of the community consulted their ancestor's spirits before major events and honored them in festive ceremonies. The exposed wood portion of the base of this object would not have been seen when attached to its reliquary. Although the Kota-Obamba peoples are not believed to have danced the figure - holding it like a wand as did their neighbors, the Kota-Mahongwé - signs of wear on this base (and some on others in museum collections) suggest that the Kota-Obamba may have danced their figures as well. The stunning form of Kota reliquary figures appealed to modern artists and collectors; Picasso may have drawn inspiration from a Kota reliquary figure when composing his celebrated painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907). By contrast, Kota peoples would have considered the reliquary, not the guardian figure, to have been of primary importance. Nevertheless, due to Christian missionary activity and local conversion at the turn of the twentieth century, Kota peoples ceased to venerate their ancestors with reliquaries and their attendant guardian figures. com.gallerysystems.emuseum.core.entities.Classification@60https://emuseum.cornell.edu/objects/14617/rdf