Fang Reliquary Guardian Figure (Eyema-o-Byeri) songdynasty often repeating tocapus (symbols)

often repeating tocapus (symbols)

Miniature models such as this one were often placed in tombs as symbolic offerings

Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals

whose collecting expedition in the region brought global attention to Asmat art and culture

Objects of this type were traditionally driven into the earth to stimulate agricultural fertility

Fang Reliquary Guardian Figure (Eyema-o-Byeri) songdynasty often repeating tocapus (symbols)Fang people, early 20th century, Cameroon or Northern Gabon, Central Africa Magnificent old male ancestor figure, eyema o byeri (also biyema biyeri or nlo byeri), carved from a single piece of hardwood and originally mounted atop a cylindrical bark reliquary. Shown in a lightly flexed stance, the figure subtly shifts its weight to the proper right, a remnant of its earlier conception as a seated formevident in the abbreviated, powerful thighs