Fang Reliquary Head on Custom Base Gabon

Overall Condition: Good. Most of our pieces have spent decades on at least two continents, and have been treasured by several owners.

Damage/Repair: Some chips and scratches; see photos

This example is a well carved head that was probably attached to a basket or a box of relics. This head shape is often identified with figures and masks common throughout a region stretching from Cameroon, through Gabon to the Atlantic coastal area. The function of this interesting and unique old carving is unknown, however due to the quality of carving and the details of the face that are similar to figural images found the family altar we identify it with the Fang Byeri funerary cult.

Byeri reliquary held the bones of ancestors and were venerated through annual ceremonies at which they were present in the form of the sculptures. Photographed as early as 1907, the cult of Byeri began to lose its prominence after 1910 due to French colonial government pressure. In the past figures would often be embellished with native copper bands around arms or wrists and some would hold in front of them miniature ancestor figures or carved animal horns known as Nlakh or small cups used in Byeri rituals honoring ancestors.

The Fang people, residing in the rainforests of the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and southern Cameroon, have a rich cultural tradition rooted in their belief in the spiritual power of ancestral relics. This belief system gave rise to the creation of remarkable works of art, particularly in the form of reliquary guardians associated with the ancestral cult known as bieri.

The Fang people underwent a migratory process over several centuries, gradually moving southwest into present-day southern Cameroon and northern Gabon, with each village carrying a bark box containing the skulls of their ancestors. These reliquary boxes were sacred and symbolized a sense of continuity with the past and the communal cohesiveness of the present. To protect the sacred contents from the gaze of women and uninitiated boys, a carved head or figure was mounted on top of each box.

Originally, the reliquary guardians took the form of heads, but as time went on, the Fang artisans began creating busts and full figures as well. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the bieri cult started to give way to a syncretic religion called bwiti, and the role of bieri in Fang culture gradually diminished.

The bieri figures crafted by the Fang people exemplify the qualities highly esteemed in their society, such as tranquility, vitality, and the ability to maintain balance between opposing forces. These ideals are expressed through the balanced forms of the figures themselves. For instance, the large head of an infant is juxtaposed with the fully developed body of an adult, symbolizing the stages of life and the cycle of generations. The figures often adopt static, symmetrical poses with passive, expressionless faces, yet there is a tension conveyed through the depiction of bulging muscles, adding a dynamic quality to the overall composition.

These bieri figures not only served as protectors of ancestral relics but also embodied the values and aspirations of the Fang people. They represented a visual expression of the harmony and equilibrium the Fang sought to achieve in their lives, reflecting their cultural and spiritual beliefs.

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