Product Description
Male reliquary guardian figure (eyema bieri) – Gabon
This young Fang “Eyema Byeri” figure of a male ancestor is characteristic of the style of the Fang Ntumu subgroup of northern Gabon near the Cameroon border. The appearance of Fang reliquary figures varies greatly from region to region. The Fang characteristics are recognized by the accentuated muscular reliefs of the arms and calves, as well as the curved shoulders and thighs. A good illustration of the “classical” style of the Southern Fang with a concave-convex face.
Made of 100% wood
Model is W 10 – H 43 and weight 1 kg.
Description
This young Fang eyema byeri figure of a male ancestor, with its elongated cylindrical trunk, compact, muscular legs, and simplified geometric arms, is characteristic of the style of the Fang Ntumu subgroup of northern Gabon near the Cameroon border.
The appearance of Fang reliquary figures varies greatly from region to region. In general, the artists who created these figures apparently were interested in depicting the ancestors through individualized features, such as hairstyle and adornment. Details of the head, including carved crests and hair extensions, refer to the nlo-o-ngo hairpiece or central crest, a kind of rattan and fiber helmet elaborately ornamented with cowrie shells, glass beads, buttons, and brass tacks. Men and women wore these wigs. The concave-convex face with a broad, rounded forehead with perfect rounding and a “heart” -shaped face with broad, slightly hollow sockets with curved incisions, A flattened and short nose, a very pronounced philtrum. The scars on the forehead and the cheeks of the personage are identified as “tears of a girl”. The eyes, carved in light relief, are decorated with nails of brass with a hemispherical head. On both sides of the face, the small ears are rounded (the one on the left is decorated with a metallic buckle) and almost integrated into the mass of the headdress. The patina of the statue is of Reddish brown tone with some resinous areas on the neck and head.
The people that are called “Fang” in the geographic or ethnographic literature number 800,000 and constitute a vast mosaic of village communities, established in a large zone of Atlantic equatorial Africa comprising Cameroon, continental Equatorial Guinea and nearly the whole north of Gabon, on the right bank of the Ogowe River. Historically the Fang were itinerant, and it is relatively recently that they have settled into this broad area. Fang are principally hunters but also agriculturists. Their social structure is based on a clan, a group of individuals with a common ancestor, and on the family.
Additional information
Weight | 1 kg |
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Dimensions | 10 × 43 cm |
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