Very large wooden mask with traces of kaolin, typical of the secret society of the Ngil of the Fang ethnic group of Gabon

Height: 72 cm, width: 25 cm

The Fang ethnic group

Fang is a name given by Westerners to groups that are spread across the territories of Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. This name covers different subgroups among which we could include the Bulu and the Mabea on the southern border of Cameroon, the Mvaï and the Ntumu in northern Gabon, the Okak and the Mvaï still on the border of Equatorial Guinea, the Betsi on the middle Ogooué... Read more

The secret society of the Ngil

Even if the masks of the Ngil are among the most prestigious and famous pieces of African art, we ultimately know little about their use; The rare descriptions of Ngil rituals remain almost silent on this aspect. We only know that they intervened in ceremonies linked to initiation rites and, above all, to the restoration of social order. They are therefore, for the most part, judicial masks and the sometimes excessive zeal (ritual murders) of its initiates led the French colonial authorities to ban the Ngil society at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Fang Ngil mask

This very large mask, typical of the secret society of the Ngil, is one of those "justice" masks with a frightening appearance for the Fang (even if it is very beautiful for Westerners), used by inquisitorial groups of initiates traveling from village to village to "say the law"; it is particularly expressive and of exceptional craftsmanship by the harmony of its curves, convex at the level of the forehead and concave at that of the face, with its characteristic long nose, its rectangular eyes and its protruding chin.