Fang — Gabon
1950 or earlier
Wood
Height: 7 in (17.8 cm)
Provenance: Constance McCormick Fearing, Santa Barbara, CA, before 1960
Fang figures of this type were conceived as guardians connected to lineage memory and ancestral presence, placed above or attached to bark containers holding the bones of important ancestors as part of reliquary practices central to Fang social and spiritual life. The compact scale gives the work an intimate presence while retaining the strong formal qualities associated with Fang carving. The dark glossy patina, rounded head, elongated neck, compact torso, and bent legs arranged in a balanced vertical stance are characteristic of the tradition.
The hands rest at the front of the body in a contained and composed posture consistent with the formal language of Fang figural sculpture. The piece was in the collection of Constance McCormick Fearing, Santa Barbara, before 1960, a provenance that places it within the pre-1960 collecting period now recognized as significant for establishing early Western ownership of African works.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Fang — Gabon
1950 or earlier
Wood
Height: 7 in (17.8 cm)
Provenance: Constance McCormick Fearing, Santa Barbara, CA, before 1960
Fang figures of this type were conceived as guardians connected to lineage memory and ancestral presence, placed above or attached to bark containers holding the bones of important ancestors as part of reliquary practices central to Fang social and spiritual life. The compact scale gives the work an intimate presence while retaining the strong formal qualities associated with Fang carving. The dark glossy patina, rounded head, elongated neck, compact torso, and bent legs arranged in a balanced vertical stance are characteristic of the tradition.
The hands rest at the front of the body in a contained and composed posture consistent with the formal language of Fang figural sculpture. The piece was in the collection of Constance McCormick Fearing, Santa Barbara, before 1960, a provenance that places it within the pre-1960 collecting period now recognized as significant for establishing early Western ownership of African works.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
