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Ngumba Reliquary Guardian Statue Of The Byeri Cult

Name: Ngumba Reliquary Guardian Statue Of The Byeri Cult
Brand: Antikeo
SKU: T38DZI23FY
Price: 4500 EUR
Availability: SoldOut

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galerie de Rochefort

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Description

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A statue that guards the reliquary baskets used in the Byeri ancestor cult, this is not the Fang but the Ngumba, their neighbors in southern Cameroon. This small ethnic group drew inspiration from the prestigious and powerful Fang for an important part of their culture. These objects are very rare in collections, and I have only found one very close example in the Jack Naiman collection (see last photo, taken from the National Museum of African Washington's book African Art in the cycle of life (page 139)), estimated at the end of the 19th century.
The statue is 53 cm tall, with a beautiful brown to light brown dry patina, hard wood, remains of sacrificial drippings, very expressive and unlike the Fangs who are rather minimalist in their representations, this one is finely sculpted with numerous details, a rich hairstyle, an embossed copper necklace, note that one eye is missing, the other is a hand-forged upholsterer's nail.
It comes with a custom-made steel base, from the former Zak gallery in Paris St Ouen, then in my personal collection.

Ref: T38DZI23FY

Additional Information

Ethnic group	Ngumba
Style	Tribal Art (African Statues, Puppets, Dolls, Maternity of Tribal Art Style)
Period	20th century (African Statues, Puppets, Dolls, Maternity 20th century)
Country of origin	Cameroon