250515 - Old African Reliquiar Byeri Fang anthropomorphic sculpture - Gabon.

Old African Reliquiar Byeri Fang anthropomorphic 4 faces sculpture on stand from Gabon. 

Total height: 25 cm and including the stand.

This Fang sculpture was dated from the mid of the 20th century and comes with a certificate of authenticity.

Great Fang janus reliquary figure from Gabon with 4 faces.
The Fang ethnic group number about 900,000 and constitute a vast village communities, established in a large zone of Atlantic equatorial Africa: consisting Cameroon, continental Equatorial Guinea and northern part of Gabon, on the right bank of the Ogowe River. Fang people used masks and statues/figures in their secret societies, the “bieri”, or ancestor sculpture. They celebrate this figure when a new crop was planted or before fishing or going hunting. The Fang bieri has the proportion of a new born, this emphasizing the groups’ continuity with its ancestor and with (three faces); the three classes of society: the “not-yet-born”, the living and the dead. This stunning fine figure shown here was also used for the initiation of young males into their secret societies as members.