Lot 2496

A large Fang figure on a reliquairy box with magical substance, bones and a skull. This object has been officially deaccesioned from the National Museum Libreville Gabon. Comes with certificates, export docments, licence and original fotos. - Box H44 cm, Figure with feathers H93 cm, complete H121 cm - Collection Number 1406 On the occasion of initiation into Byeri, the figures were removed from their containers and manipulated like puppets in performances that dramatized the raising of the dead for didactic purposes. During the early twentieth century, Fang reliquary sculpture began to be acquired by collectors, who admired the inspired interpretation of the human form. This particular work was formerly in the collections of two well-known modernist artists, the painter André Derain and the sculptor Jacob Epstein.reliquaire Ambete, Gabon Estimate 8-12.000