To the south of the Cameroon rain forest, the Ogowe River Basin in Gabon is the dominant natural feature. People live in autonomous villages and, as in much of traditional Africa, farm, hunt, and fish.

Art objects in this region are often associated with religious beliefs that honor the dead. Reliquaries, containers holding sacred family relics, are carefully maintained and venerated in small enclosures. Reliquary guardian figures are commonly placed on top of the containers. The Kota peoples, as well as the Hongwe peoples, make copper- and brass-sheathed reliquary guardian figures that are flat and highly schematic and have lozenge-shaped bases. In contrast, Fang reliquary guardian figures are carved in the round and are relatively naturalistic.