An ancient mokengé bell decorated with a beautiful sculpted head with three braids, a call gong used by the members and initiates of the bwiti to announce ceremonies, and in particular by the evovi judges. The sculpted handle is described in specialized literature (Louis Perrois, Art ancestral du Gabon, Éd. Nathan) as: "the representation of the mythical entity Kombé, the sun, male entity source of life and "supreme judge" of humans", however, we know of feminine versions of the sculpted mokengé bell such as one of the famous gongs in the M. Itzikovitz collection, or the one in the previous lot. For a model of a mokengé bell very similar to our example but with four braids, see : L'Art Kota, les figures de reliquaires, Éd. A. et F. Chaffin, p. 320 and 321. Tsogho, Gabon Wood, iron, copper, vegetable fibers, old cracks and small accidents, very beautiful and old patina of use. H. Height : 48 cm Provenance : Jacques Viault Collection.