Gabonese Osseyeba or Reliquary Figure

Gabon is forest country, and the forest keeps its secrets well.

This is an osseyeba, a reliquary figure, twenty inches tall, twentieth century. A wooden core wrapped in brass and copper. A large oval head, edged in beading, with a patterned face and a stylized beard. Below it a long neck and a diamond-shaped lower body. The metal is the color of old honey, scored with fine lines and set with small dots.

The form is spare and beautifully balanced: a face, a stem, a diamond.

Stand it where the light can reach the brass. It will not need more.