a superb reliquary-guardian head - Fang - Gabon (No reserve price)
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Reproduction of a Fang Byeri guardian head reliquary from Gabon, carved in wood, 40 cm high, 18 cm wide, 15 cm deep, in good condition.
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Description from the seller
Tete Gardien de reliquaire Biery - Fang - Gabon
Among the Fang, the Byeri is tied to ancestor worship and more precisely to the reliquaries dedicated to them.
According to Perrois, it was behind the head of the family that the reliquaries, wooden effigies, and even personal relics were discreetly installed. He also notes that important deceased members of the lineage could be buried in the very chamber of the head of the family, in order to protect the remains!
These reliquaries consist of two parts:
- the bark box coffin which will contain bone relics, which the Fang call nsekh o byeri, the belly,
- and the perpendicular figure that surmounts the box: eyema o byeri which means the head.
Regarding the contents of the boxes, Perrois tells us that Fang relics consisted of skulls, long bones, or even simple bone fragments, teeth.
Family relics were carefully identified and collected a few months after the death of the notable, cleaned, dried and sometimes adorned with metallic inlays, copper...
Subsequently they were periodically taken out from the bark chests and honored by the application of red paste (padouk wood powder mixed with oil).
The head of the family would then invoke the ancestors to foster wishes of luck, wealth, and fertility.
The Byeri figurines could also be used as puppets during the Melan rites.
On the sewn bark box, we find the wood effigies we know. Either heads alone whose stem was fixed into the lid, or life-size statuettes placed seated on the edges.
More rarely, some statuettes could sometimes conceal discreet inclusions with magical powers, behind eyes inlaid with copper or mirror, under the ears or at the top of the forehead.
There were also added bone fragments or most often human molars.
Tete Gardien de reliquaire Biery - Fang - Gabon
Among the Fang, the Byeri is tied to ancestor worship and more precisely to the reliquaries dedicated to them.
According to Perrois, it was behind the head of the family that the reliquaries, wooden effigies, and even personal relics were discreetly installed. He also notes that important deceased members of the lineage could be buried in the very chamber of the head of the family, in order to protect the remains!
These reliquaries consist of two parts:
- the bark box coffin which will contain bone relics, which the Fang call nsekh o byeri, the belly,
- and the perpendicular figure that surmounts the box: eyema o byeri which means the head.
Regarding the contents of the boxes, Perrois tells us that Fang relics consisted of skulls, long bones, or even simple bone fragments, teeth.
Family relics were carefully identified and collected a few months after the death of the notable, cleaned, dried and sometimes adorned with metallic inlays, copper...
Subsequently they were periodically taken out from the bark chests and honored by the application of red paste (padouk wood powder mixed with oil).
The head of the family would then invoke the ancestors to foster wishes of luck, wealth, and fertility.
The Byeri figurines could also be used as puppets during the Melan rites.
On the sewn bark box, we find the wood effigies we know. Either heads alone whose stem was fixed into the lid, or life-size statuettes placed seated on the edges.
More rarely, some statuettes could sometimes conceal discreet inclusions with magical powers, behind eyes inlaid with copper or mirror, under the ears or at the top of the forehead.
There were also added bone fragments or most often human molars.
Details
Indigenous object name
a superb reliquary-guardian head
Number of objects
1
Ethnic group/ culture
Fang
Country of Origin
Gabon
Material
Wood
Sold with stand
No
Condition
Good condition
Height
40 cm
Width
18 cm
Depth
15 cm
Authenticity
Reproduction/replica
