A female Fang statue, Gabon, possibly a byeri sculpture; dark encrusted patina, signs of ritual use. Certificate of origin and provenance.

"The byeri, the generic term referring to both the cult of the ancestors, rituals and related cultural objects, formed the heart of Fang social and spiritual life. Although neither the divine creator Mebere nor the epic hero Nzame were the subject of rituals and offerings, the Fang believed that the prosperity, fertility and wealth of the entire community depended primarily on the tribe’s ancestors or lineage. The bestowers of all blessings, the ancestors could also be dangerous disruptive elements if they were not regularly honoured through rituals. The ancestors were consulted before any major decision was made: political alliances, marriages, wars, village relocations, new plantings, hunting and fishing, etc."

"To open the connection to the ancestors and earn their goodwill, the relics were taken out of their basket and wielded by the men, and had to be regularly ‘fed’ with blood, padauk sawdust or copal resin, ba powder (red powder, the sacred colour, made from a mix of padauk wood and oil), offerings of food and drinks and numerous palm oil anointings. Vehicles of mediation between the world of the living and that of the dead, Fang reliquary guardians were seen as symbolic incarnations of the power of the ancestors. Like the sacred bones, sculpted effigies initially adorned with feathers and jewels were also the object of many ritual libations to renew their potency."

Source: Musee du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac.

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Height: 42 cm
Weight: 0,7 kg