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Description : Fang Four Face Hand Reliquary Head (19th-20th c.) Gabon, Africa In Fang society, figurative sculptures produced for the ancestor cult, or Bieri, were designed to complement reliquary containers. Such works were generalized ancestral representations which were memorialized and addressed in times of need through relics preserved in the attached container. The Fang believed that ancestral relics held great spiritual power. Bieri was a Fang association devoted to the veneration of lineage ancestors and founders, leaders, and fertile women who made significant contributions to society during their lifetime. After death, their relics, particularly the skull, were conserved in cylindrical bark containers and guarded by carved wooden heads or figures mounted atop the receptacles -Metropolitan Museum of Art Literature - Wood - Late 19th c. Early 20th c. - Gabon, Central Africa - From a Private New York Collection - H: 7 1/2 in. Each item will be accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

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