Description: A WOOD, BRASS, NAILS AND ROPE RELIQUIARY GUARDIAN HEAD 'NLO BYERI'
Gabon, Fang
32 cm high
Provenance: Vittorio Bellini (1936-2009) collection.
This head is the apical part of a reliquary intended for the preservation and worship of ancestor bones, to which the Fang had great respect and devotion. The serene and conscious expression, typical of those who are aware of being able to carry out the delicate task entrusted to them, the elegant and intense features, with the rounded skull, the long pyramidal nose, the wide mouth with tight lips and the eyes elongated surmounted by the rhythmic double arch of the eyebrows.