MITSOGHO, GABON
WOOD,RAFFIA, FEATHERS,PIGMENT, HEIGHT 45CM

The Mitsogho are related to the Punu and the Fang. This statue  was used to consult with the ancestral spirits. A hole was made through the neck area into which a wooden stick is inserted. Palm oil was poured into the hole and then gauged with the stick. The oil would have come into contact with the reliquary pieces at the bottom of the basket. The colour the oil had changed to would then be interpreted by an initiate and conveyed to the community.