Fang (Fan, Mpangwe, Pahuin, Pamue, Pangwe), Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon

Reliquary Ancestor Cult Figure. The ensemble of Fang peoples practice a cult devoted to ancestor lineages, the bieri, whose aim is to both protect themselves from the deceased and to recruit their aid in matters of daily life. This familial cult coexists with other beliefs and rituals. It is, however, the bieri, which has most obviously given rise to the making of remarkable wooden sculpture. The bieri were guarded in a dark corner of the room. Sometimes, deceased members of the lineage were buried in the same hut space or in that of some close relative; this to prevent someone making off with any osseous remains, to be used in sorcery against family members. The relics were essentially skull fragments, or sometimes complete skulls, jawbones, teeth and small bones. The bieri also served for therapeutic rituals and, above all, for the initiation of young males during the great so festival. The figures were then separated from the relics, to serve as ritual marionettes during the quasi-theatrical events when the candidates – duly drugged and prepared – have to “die” as children to then be “reborn” as adult men. It is by way of a hallucination that they are able to see their ancestors and, above all, come to learn their new names. Through this revelation, the candidates come to know the role of the reliquary figures.

Material:  wood

Size: 17”x 6½”x6½”

Price:  $285+$40 (S&H)                                                   [#N5F6S520]