Bieri

Description

Bieri (guardian figure) of carved hardwood with black oily patina, male bust with plain straight torso and arms akimbo on cylindrical base, fitting as stopper in cylindrical reliquary box of blackened bark, used to contain ancestral bones: Central Africa, Gabon, Middle Ogowe River, Fang people, late 19th to early 20th century

Museum reference

A.1968.515

Collection

World Culture

Object name

Bieri, Reliquary box

Production information

Ogowe River, Gabon, Central Africa

Date

Late 19th - early 20th century

Style / Culture

Fang

Materials

Hardwood, Bark

Physical description

Hardwood, covered in a black oily patina; blackened bark with cane chain-stitch