Lot n° 122
Estimation :
50000 - 70000
EUR
Statue, Fang, Gabon - Lot 122
Statue, Fang, Gabon
Wood
Height: 45 cm
Provenance: René Marteaux Collection, Belgium
Transmitted by descent
Sotheby's, London, March 26, 1990, no. 128 Private American collection
Richard Vinatier Collection, Avignon (inv. no. 429)
Text by Mr Louis Perrois and Mr Bernard De Grunne
Fang, one of the mythical jewels of tribal art, the statuary of equatorial Africa, technical skill and a sense of the balanced arrangement of forms, seem to be the prerogative of a few groups and not of the entire Pahouin bloc.
They represented the first ancestor of the family line, whose relics are preserved for worship. The Nzaman, like the Betsi from the Ogoué and Okano valleys, are Fang tribes from southern Gabon, very close to the Waï style.
The disappearance of the Fang style from the 1930/1940 period, partly due to revealed religions, annihilated the ancestral beliefs of the Fangs and at the same time destroyed all ancient ritual objects, particularly ancestor statues.
The Byeri reliquary, a reliquary chest containing bones and skulls, was discreetly installed behind the bed of the head of the family and the siblings. On top of this reliquary, a full-length statue, male or female, but sometimes also a wooden head, protected the relics of the ancestral lineage.
The reliquary is a figure that establishes identity and embodies siblings. In short, it is the material representation of an egregore. In esotericism, it's a force that needs to be constantly fed by its members through established and defined rituals; in this sense, it's a form of collective unconscious.
Be that as it may, the reliquary, the receptacle of relics - often of a highly deserving family member - embodies the clan itself and maintains, guarantees its unity.
The skulls were those of men in the prime of life, not old men, and were considered the life force of individuals. The skulls were then shown to initiates, and the father of the family invoked the ancestors to bring luck, wealth and fertility to the women.
Beautiful female reliquary figure with deep interiorization, squinted eyes, straight nose, heart-shaped figure with rounded forehead. Beautiful headdress with three shells and forehead strap, featuring small tapestry nails delimiting each shell and two holes for attaching Touraco feathers, the ears echoing the shape of the shells.
The mouth is prognathic, with a few lip plugs. The long, slender body, with separate breasts, is beautifully shaped, with angled arms and hands returning to the belly above the prominent navel, and the trunk bulging out at the navel. Powerful legs, with chunky thighs in a seated position and marked feet, with a hole in the seat for a wooden reliquary.
The back features a delineation of the shoulder blades as well as the spine, the whole showing great serenity and elegance. Deep black patina, shiny in places, showing very early use.
*(This text takes up some of the writings of Mr. Louis Perrois in his exceptional book "Fan Gabon, ORSTOM 1972", starting with paragraph 11, "Southern fan styles").
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