statue fang - Gabon (No reserve price)

Fang reliquary statue ‘Byeri’ is a symbolic and protective representation of the clan or lineage center, fixed on the reliquary box made of bark containing fragments of an ancestor’s bones. It is a cup-bearer figure that relates to the southern style known as breviform, as defined by L. Perrois, who established its repertoire of forms. The repeated applications of fatty substances and copal resin, extracted from a resinous liana (Guibourtia arnoldiana), have created a glossy, patinated surface that appears lacquered.