FANG - GABON Carved and patinated wooden... - Lot 70 - Vasari Auction

Lot 70
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200 - 300 EUR
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Result : 100EUR
FANG - GABON Carved and patinated wooden... - Lot 70 - Vasari Auction
FANG - GABON Carved and patinated wooden mask decorated with curved motifs incised on the top of the cheeks evoking some traditional scarifications. (heavy wear). Height 69 cm high Note : Among the Fang, the ngil was a rite of social regulation. Its followers used anonymous human bones as magical ingredients during judicial trials and the fight against witchcraft. The group, formed as a militia, went from village to village at the request and expense of sponsors, for example, in the event of an unexplained death or suspicion of a spell. The rite consisted above all in frightening those who had evil intentions or who had secretly kept forbidden "fetishes", notably by the spectacular manifestation of the mask at nightfall. Having caused disturbances in villages as a result of abuse by its followers, the ngil was gradually banned by the French colonial administration around 1920. Source: "Les Forêts natales - Arts d'Afrique équatoriale Atlantique - Actes Sud Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac - October 2017"
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