FANG, Gabon - Lot 394

FANG, Gabon Standing female figure, knees slightly bent, arms detached from the body and chest marked in relief. The posture suggests a slight forward movement, reinforced by the projection of the chest and the receding of the hips, giving the whole a restrained dynamic. The navel is surrounded by linear scarification; other scarifications are visible on the arms and cheeks. The face is heart-shaped, with a refined architecture: the rounded forehead sculpted in relief precedes a hollowed-out face where only the long nose and the brow ridge protrude. The superciliary arches are defined by incisions surmounted by two rectangular symbols with a median line. The eyes are small and open, the mouth half-open. The strong neck supports a symmetrical three-lobed headdress, divided by a median ridge. Carved wood, old honey-brown patina, pyrography, use mark Late 19th - early 20th century. Height Height : 66 cm Provenance : Former French private collection Christophe Rolley Collection, Paris This type of female figure, far removed from the corpus of Byeri reliquary statues, belonged to initiatory and symbolic contexts specific to the Fang. Used by men's societies (such as the ngil or so), it served as a support for ritual transmissions, embodying a moral, social and aesthetic ideal. The slender appearance, scarification marks and codified headdress affirm a representation of dignity, mastery and balance, essential to the spiritual training of young initiates.