Superb statuette in wood, bone and wicker, typical of the Fang ethnic group of Gabon

Height: 47 cm

Fang art

Fang art is closely linked to the cult of byeri (ancestor worship) which was practiced by the Fang of Gabon and South Cameroon. Read more here

Fang reliquary statues

The Fang guardian statues of Byéri (reliquary box or basket containing the bones of the ancestors) generally represent seated men.

Some Fang sculptures represent female ancestors (known to have had an exemplary life) or single heads that could be earlier versions of the sculptures representing a full body, at a time when the Byéri box symbolized the body of the ancestors.

The wicker harness of this very beautiful statuette was probably intended to fix a basket at the back in which "magical objects" were placed