Vente Christie's - 27 juin 2018
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Vente Christie's - 27 juin 2018

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ENGLISH TRANSLATIONand proportions of representation’, alluding to whatdiferentiates African sculpture, with forms that areoften surprising – even shocking – to our Europeaneyes, from classical Western sculpture (notablyGreek and Roman), devoted to naturalism. RegardingFang statuary, incidentally, the author discusses atlength the concept of “paedomorphism”, that is, theapparently “infantile” nature of efigies’ proportions,which must be dealt separately from the premises ofnaturalists. Many reference Fang statues, includingthis 44-cm statue, with its especially large headand signifed with a byeri ancestor, impels us toreturn to this notion. With its unrealistic proportions,the efigy recalls the representation of a child’sbody [ôyôm ô mon] (large head and squat thighsand calves) even though the subject in questionis an ancestor, that is, an old man, who, havingbeen a powerful warrior, became a respected andfeared chief. It must be noted that none of myFang informers during my feld investigations from1966 to 1970 spontaneously alluded to this typeof resemblance at the primary level. It must not beforgotten that these sculptures are most importantlya collection of signs, symbolic representations to beassociated with the oral teaching of traditions. ‘Incontrast, that some efigies have features specifc toan old man (man with wrinkled face, or woman withdrooping breasts, that is, powerful and experiencedancestors), a virile warrior (carefully representedmusculature) or a young woman (pointed breasts,sign of future fecundity), is recognised in situ. Itappears to me, in my opinion, that the importancegiven to the sculpted head is more related tothe central role of skulls [ekokwe nlô] in byerirites than to any iconographic consideration.’A head highly characteristicof classical Fang workmanshipThe statue’s head has two opposing parts (face andhair), perched on a cylindrical neck jutting from theelongated torso. Viewing the statue directly, the faceis created with minimal forms, with a broad roundedquarter-sphere forehead, a perfectly polishedsurface (incised with a discreet axial scarifcation),and a face sculpted in a heart shape, with tworounded eyebrow arches leading to a very fat nosewide at its base, angular (platyrhinian), and simianin appearance. The eyes are enlivened with brasspupils (upholstery nails, of slightly diferent size).The mouth, very wide with thin lips, protrudes, abovea somewhat withdrawn chin, the whole forming aprognathous volume, fully forward of the neck.The second part, forming two-thirds of the head’svolume, sits on the cylinder of the neck. The hair,close to the head and consisting of three fat plaitswith a decorative chevron pattern, follows theback of the head and ends at a slant at the nape.At the sides, the temples are shorn, highlightingrounded, forward-facing ears. The two ears donot sit exactly on the same horizontal axis, nor arethey the same size. In projection and in profle,the curvature of the forehead and the plaits forma circle whose centre is located just behind theear. The head therefore appears spherical onthe whole and stylised, whilst fully retaining itsrealistic expression (eyes, nose, and mouth).A few sculptural detailsNeck, torso, backThis byeri presents especially well-modelled torso,abdomen and back with rare sculpting mastery,recalling in a certain way the workmanship ofthe most beautiful sculptures of Mediterraneanantiquity. The cylindrical neck is thick andpowerful, incised with a “v” to represent theAdam’s apple, a sign of masculinity foundelsewhere, especially in Beti-Mabea efigies.The shoulders are broad and athletic, wideand rounded, the line of the shoulders leadingto very short arms, with biceps set of withgrooves evoking Fang warrior bracelets. Theforearms, in contrast, are very elongated, atan angle, somewhat detached from the torso,with the hands (very worn) atop the thighs, inan almost simian position. The torso presentshighly refned modelling, with pectoral musclesin slight relief, distinct nipples, and an axialgroove beginning at the neck. In profle, the fgureis in an upright position, the abdomen slightlyprotruding forward, with a “barrel” volume, asif seated before important notables. On thereverse, the back is marked by a long and widevertebral hollow, extending from the nape to thepelvis, with smooth modelling, and perfectlypolished surfaces such as on the upper thighs.Plaited hair, worn crownAlthough the type of hairstyle, three fat plaits, isfairly common in Fang statuary, what is less commonis the treatment of the crown, which is not visiblewhen viewing the statue directly from the front. Thefront portion and the beginning of the plaits appearto have been rough cut, probably with a knife oradze, as if ‘scalped’ in a square area, eliminating theexpected volume that is reappears only in the backof the plaits. A transversal cut is perhaps for thehole for attaching the bouquet of touraco or eaglefeathers [etsalé-é-myam] that formerly crownedeach eyema byeri. It may be possible that ritualchipping was made to the statue at this location.Ritual chipping at the navel, hands and hairSmall pieces of the efigy have been chipped of,not only from the hair, but especially near thenavel (originally a cylindrical outgrowth) which,as a result, has completely disappeared, and onthe lower parts of the forearms at the hands.The hands, having been considerably chipped,are practically non existent. Tradition holds thatthese chips were used in the preparation of magic“medicines” [byañ] that were thereby “fortifed”with the very substance of the ancestors. Thisresulted in the statue having at times a greatersacredness than told, comparable to those familyrelics that the statue “kept”. In this regard, someefigies contained actual relics, especially teeth.Detail of lower members, missing feet ; missingposterior peduncle, replaced by Inagaki pedestalAlthough drawing upon usual Fang design, theshape of the statue’s lower members is peculiar.Whilst the heft of the feshy and curved thighs fexedin the seated position is classic, the shape of thecalves themselves – fared spindles below the knees– is unusual. It is possible to imagine that the calveshave been accidentally truncated at some point, thelower part and the feet having disappeared (wornwood) or possibly rough cut as support peduncles.Regardless, the monoxylous posterior support is alsomissing, replaced by Inagaki’s ingenious pedestal.Comparison worksFang ancestor fgures with “outsized forearms”Within the vast body of Ntumu Fang statuesfeaturing the “stretched” design, a certain number(less than a dozen) present this twin characteristicof highly refned modelling of the torso and outsizedforearms. This pairing may be a characteristicfeature of a specifc atelier, artist or group ofartists, likely from a specifc region and time,which cannot now be identifed. This is the casefor a 52-cm statue from the former Pierre Véritécollection, collected at the beginning of the 20thcentury and appearing in ‘La statuaire Fañ, Gabon’1979, 199, p. 222. The forearms, very elongated,detached from the torso, end with paddle-shapedhands that are highly stylised and fngerless, withthe feet similarly stylised. The same is true for alarge 62-cm statue from the former Dr Girardincollection, with provenance of Charles Rattonand Madeleine Rousseau 1942, held at le Muséed’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, with stylisedfat hands. Several other pieces with similarworkmanship can be cited : a very large 72-cmFang efigy, with highly pared-down form, a piecefrom the Christine Valluet gallery, then belongingto the Bernard de Grunne collection, Brussels,2006 ; another statue collected in situ before 1916,presented for sale in Drouot in November 2001.Note that all these statues are male efigies.“Heart-shaped” faces, protrudingforeheads and plaited hairAs a comparison, the Durand-Dessert Fang statue’sface and hair recall, as much for its aesthetic qualityas their venerable antiquity, some objects collectedfrom what was then Spanish Guinea (Rio Muni) bythe explorer Dr Amado Ossorio in 1884-1886 forthe Madrid museum. The same traits are visible :perfectly polished rounded quarter-sphere forehead,the “heart-shaped” face with highly defned eyebrowarches, and a wide pouting mouth. In this regionof Rio Muni, the Okak and Ntumu groups were incontact in the 19th century. They were observedand studied by Spanish explorers, then by the youngethnographer Günter Tessmann from 1904 to 1909.ConclusionThe Durand-Dessert collection eyema byeri statue,with prestigious Paul Buillaume provenance, is botha superb masterpiece of perfect Fang classicismand a statue of highly original workmanship. Anobject of great antiquity, having been subject toritual chipping at the hair and hands, an indicationof its importance to tradition, this byeri may becompared to other previously referenced “outsizedforearm” statues. With majestic bearing despiteits size, the statue has been truncated at the lowerlegs. Its patina, thick and oozing in places, highlightsthe fne modelling of the torso and the back. Thisimportant fgure, a defector of the world of the deadand a bearer of ancestor’s strength, is one of themajor symbolic expressions of Fang humanism.210

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