This is the rating and price for FANG RELIQUARY HEAD, GABON

Description : FANG RELIQUARY HEAD, GABON angok nlo byeri height 12in (30.5cm) Provenance Reportedly Merton D. Simpson Gallery, New York, 1960s William B. Moore Collection, Los Angeles, California Jean-Pierre Hallet Collection, Malibu, California European Private Collection French Private Collection Re.S.Artes Carbon-14 Analysis completed in 2014 dating the present work to 150 +/- 20 years old 'The Fang were among the most feared warriors and cannibals in all of Africa, yet the heads and figures they carved for their ancestor cult are classical examples of the serene beauty of which African art is capable...According to Louis Perrois, the patina is a resinous mixture of palm oil (widely used in West Africa) and copal. Once the wood is impregnated thoroughly with this mixture, it exudes oil indefinitely. Throughout the vast Fang area, such figures are both evocations of the dead and magical protectors of the ancestral bones. The ancestor's skull and some of his small bones were kept in boxes made of bark and the statue [and heads] were attached to the lids with vines.' (Fagg, William, African Majesty, 1981, p. 142) While byeri heads were never intended to depict individuals, it was critical for the Fang artist to capture the essence of a living being. In the present work, the artist has skillfully carved a full rounded head with a tripartite coiffure in back, the back middle with two incised openings; the top of the head with coiffure defined with linear horizontal incising; the heart-shaped face with a cowrie shell attached as the right eye, the left with a circular piece of glass attached with a resinous material, the lips slightly protruding and open to reveal upper and lower teeth, bordered by incised chevron-from ears on each temple; supported with a columnar neck, pierced through near the bottom; varied dark brown patina with ritual patination to the face. For further information on this lot please visit the website
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