EXCLUSIVE AFRICAN HISTORICAL;TRADITIONAL RELIQUERY FIGURE FOR SALE
WOOD AND METAL NORTHERN FANG BETSI FIGURE
NOTES:
Northern Fang Betsi figure. Wood, metal.
Period: end XIXth century.Height"36cm. The Northern Fang Betsi reliquary figures have characteristically long Torso's and metal eyes. In Fang thought, the new-born are moreover particularly close to the ancestors, the infant separating himself progressively from the world of forefathers in becoming, through ritual (notably initiatic) and through time, adult. Many Fang works have a dark patina and ointments intended to protect the wood, isolating it from possible aggressions by insects and hardening it so that it resisted the climate of the equatorial forest better. Like the round and brilliant eyes of certain figures, made of brass, the shininess made the figures glow and thus rendered them visible in the half-light, testifying thus their role of guardian, signaling the presence of relics and protecting them. Deeply sacred, the relics were in fact taken out of their box only during rituals and could be seen exclusively by the initiated.
44Northern Fang Betsi figure. Wood, metal.
Period: end XIXth century.Height"36cm. The Northern Fang Betsi reliquary figures have characteristically long Torso's and metal eyes. In Fang thought, the new-born are moreover particularly close to the ancestors, the infant separating himself progressively from the world of forefathers in becoming, through ritual (notably initiatic) and through time, adult. Many Fang works have a dark patina and ointments intended to protect the wood, isolating it from possible aggressions by insects and hardening it so that it resisted the climate of the equatorial forest better. Like the round and brilliant eyes of certain figures, made of brass, the shininess made the figures glow and thus rendered them visible in the half-light, testifying thus their role of guardian, signaling the presence of relics and protecting them. Deeply sacred, the relics were in fact taken out of their box only during rituals and could be seen exclusively by the initiated.
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