MAAAT-OGG-MAS-MBEDE-001Ethnographic object record

MBÉDÉ RELIQUARY FIGURE

Among the Mbédé the ancestor cult is called onkani. The figures take part in it by representing ancestors, lineage heads and notables: the term nkani designates the chief, and the figure retains that status beyond death. These are not deities but persons who remain holders of an authority.

Creator: Susanna Saderi
Date Created: 10/06/2026

Catalogue metadata

Abstract dcterms:abstract: The Museo Arte e Scienza figure displays all the diagnostic criteria of the Mbédé/Ambete style: barrel-shaped/cylindrical body; head carved in the round; sagittal-crest coiffure with stepped horizontal grooves; prominent forehead over a hollow face; rectangular mouth with visible teeth; arms fixed to the body and bent in an L; short, semi-flexed legs. The Mbédé attribution is confirmed with a high degree of certainty by photographic analysisen
Type dcterms:type: Ethnographic record — Object
Spatial Coverage dcterms:spatial: They are an ethnic group of the equatorial forest inhabiting the border region between central-eastern Gabon and northern Republic of Congo, south of the Ogooué.en