Sculptural Element from a Reliquary Ensemble

19th - early 20th century (before 1926)

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Despite high attendance and the critical success of the 1927 exhibition, Locke’s ambitious project for a museum of African Art in Harlem never came to fruition, and the Blondiau-Theatre Arts Collection faded from memory. Unsold works from the collection eventually were dispersed between American museums and historically black universities, while the largest bulk entered the collection of the Harlem Branch of the New York Public Library. Throughout the 1930s, parts of the collection were on display in the Library’s reading room. While the collection consisted mainly of decorative arts from the Congo, it also comprised works from Equatorial Africa, such as this Kota reliquary element from Gabon on view in the exhibition, appealing in its simplicity.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: Sculptural Element from a Reliquary Ensemble
Date: 19th - early 20th century (before 1926)
Geography: Gabon
Culture: Kota peoples
Medium: Wood, brass and copper
Dimensions: H. x W. x D.: 22 1/16 x 10 5/8 x 1 3/16 in. (56 x 27 x 3 cm)
Classification: Wood-Sculpture
Credit Line: Art and Artifacts Division of the Schomburg Collections, New York Public Library
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing