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Catalog Data

Maker:
Fang artist  Search this
Medium:
Wood, oil
Dimensions:
H x W x D: 58.7 x 17.8 x 15.9 cm (23 1/8 x 7 x 6 1/4 in.)
Type:
Figure
Geography:
Gabon
Equatorial Guinea
Date:
Late 19th-early 20th century
Label Text:
Honoring one's ancestors is an important act among the Fang peoples. This was done both by remembering their names and deeds and by keeping physical remnants of them as relics. At least a portion of the skull and other bones, if possible, were preserved in a barkwood box to which a carved wooden guardian figure or head was affixed. In the early 20th century it was not uncommon for bieri figures to be sold to Europeans, while the irreplaceable relics were retained.
During bieri rituals, individuals asked ancestors for help and protection through the services of an elderly man, himself almost an ancestor, and before undertaking any important or potentially dangerous activity: travel, hunting, land selection, marriage, political alliances, disputes or war. During the rituals, the bones and the figures would be anointed with palm oil, redwood (padouk) powder, medicinal plants and chicken or goat blood. This figure still has its oil patina but has lost the feather headdress and necklace it may have once worn.
According to the morphology developed by Louis Perrois (1972), this bieri figure is in the ntumu style of northern Gabon and the adjoining areas in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. This identification is based on the proportions of the body: an elongated torso, neck and body that are equal in diameter, with the arms separated from the body and folded across the chest.
The figure's spherical head suggests both a child and a skull, an impression enhanced by the round eyes set into a concave, heart-shaped face. The open stare is typical of infants, as is the protruding stomach and peglike umbilicus. Both the umbilicus and the emphatic depiction of the genitals may refer to the continued fertility of the group, a concern of the ancestors. An adult trait is seen in the carved headdress that depicts the fiber wig (typically ornamented with imported buttons, brass tacks or cowrie shells) worn by Fang warriors and documented in early-20th-century photographs. These are all general traits, however, and the figure cannot be considered a portrait of any of the individuals whose bones were in the barkwood box to which the bieri was once attached. The contradictory aspects of infant and ancestor give the objects a vitality and balanced opposition. As a guardian image it might rely on this more subtle tension than on more overtly threatening gestures.
Description:
Standing male figure with elongated torso, arms bent at the elbow, hands clasped in front and stout, rounded legs bent. Figure has rounded head with large forehead and diminutive face with overall oil patina.
Provenance:
Marius de Zayas, Modern Gallery, New York, 1918
Agnes E. Meyer, Washington, D.C., -- to 1972
Exhibition History:
Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 4, 2017-ongoing
African Art, New York, and the Avant-Garde, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, November 27, 2012-September 2, 2013
Object and Image: Man Ray, African Art and the Modernist Lens, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., October 10, 2009-January 10, 2010
Treasures, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 17, 2004-August 15, 2005
Celebrating our New Collection Catalogue Handbook, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., February 2-June 5, 2000
African Art in Color, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., May 17-October 9, 1983
Life...Afterlife: African Funerary Sculpture, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 1981-March 1, 1982
African Art in Washington Collections, Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., May 25, 1972-January 1, 1973
Exhibited at Modern Gallery (Marius de Zayas), New York, January 1918
Published References:
Biro, Yaƫlle. "African Art, New York, and the Avant-Garde." African Arts 46 (2), p. 92, no. 11.
Goodman, Elaine Sooy. 2009. "Warren M. Robbins and the Founding of the National Museum of African Art." Tribal Art XIII:2 (51), p. 91, no. 11.
Grossman, Wendy and Letty Bonnell. 2009. "Man Ray, African Art, and the Modernist Lens." African Arts 42 (3), p. 74, no. 5.
Grossman, Wendy A. 2009. Man Ray, African Art, and the Modernist Lens. Washington, D.C.: Internation Arts and Artists, pp. 28, 161, cat. 16, no. 32.
LaGamma, Alisa. 2012. "Art from Gabon." Tribal Art Magazine, Special Issue #3, pp. 26-27, no. 26.
Martinez, Jessica Levin. 2010. "Ephemeral Fang Reliquaries: A Post-History." African Arts 43 (1), p. 28, no. 1.
Museum of African Art. 1972. African Art in Washington Collections: A Loan Exhibition at the Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: Museum of African Art, pp. 36-37, no. 304.
National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 105, no. 71.
Patton, Sharon F. 2004. Treasures: Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Folio.
Walker, Roslyn A. 1983. African Art in Color. Exhibition brochure. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, no. 7.
Webb, Virginia-Lee. 1991. "Art as Information: The African Portfolios of Charles Sheeler and Walker Evans." African Arts 24 (1), p. 57.
Content Statement:
As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
Image Requests:
High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
Topic:
Ancestral  Search this
male  Search this
Credit Line:
Gift of the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation
Object number:
72-41-3
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
National Museum of African Art Collection
Exhibition:
Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts
On View:
NMAfA, Overlook Gallery (1136)
NMAfA, Second Level Gallery (2193)
Data Source:
National Museum of African Art
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys750fd26d0-12e6-4fba-b27d-ef8913024b3a
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmafa_72-41-3