Fang Ntumu
images from the Fang I had where removed on clients request.
The Fang N'tumu below was 57,5 cm high and sold at Sotheby's Paris lot 137
for 90,750 € in 2008 provenance: Daniel Hourdé,
Paris, Collection Marceau Rivière, Paris
size: 40 cm high
Also called locally éyéma-o-byéri the Fang N'tumu figures are quite seldom
on the market and it is difficult to find a genuine one at a reasonable price.
Fang N'Tumu, Equatorial Spanish Guinea. Carved originally to protect over a
cylindrical barrel the Fang N'tumu was containing relics--skull caps and bone
fragments of deceased members of the family.
Attached towards the bark barrel by a projection from the bottom, the
sculpture guarded the revered remains believed to channel the good will of
distinguished doctors, soldiers, grandmothers as well as other memorable family
members.
Honoring the deceased was the charge of thee Bieri men's society, as well as its
leaders commissioned wood made sculptures this goal.
Importantly, the sculptures functioned as a focus allowing you to connect with
all the dead.
Like tombstones, they created a space where adherents could air their worries
and ask for guidance.
The Fang N'Tumu here addresses two audiences:
First, the approved male people in the Bieri society who acknowledged the
reliquary in the men's authority house; the opposite, banned women, kids,
non-initiates, and malevolent ghosts have been considered trespassers.
The rounded areas of the body expose the ideal of Fang musculature features .
The oil mixed with ashes gives thistype of statues it's shiny aspect and
depending on the weather sometimes the oil is sweating out of the statue.
 Hubert Deschamps (1)
divides the Fang tribes living in Gabon as such:
- Zamane
North of the Ogooue, in an area defined by Njole, Boue and Makokou.
- Ntoumou
Nothern Gabon, close to the Equatorial Guinea border, in an area defined by
Mitzic, Oyem and Bitam.
- Mvai
Northern Gabon, close to the Cameroon border, in an area defined by Bitam and
Minvoul.
- Betsi
Northwestern Gabon, under the equatorial Guinea to the Ogooue in an area defined
by the Gabon estuary, Lamabarene and Njole.
A broader view of the Fang tribes is given by Jean-Pierre Ombolo (2)
The Fang group extends on southern Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo and Gabon.
Fang (Pahouin) people share close dialects of the same language, a similar
social organisation and reference to the same origin and migratory myth.
Pahouins divides in three subgroups: Fang, Beti and Bulu.
This statue is from the Fang Ntumu
- Ntumu about 20.000 people,
in South-West Cameroon on the Ntem (Ambam subdivision) in Equatorial Guinea in
North-East of Rio Muni in Gabon in the Woleu-Ntem region
- Ngumba about 15.000 people
in Lolodorf region, slightly disconnected from the coast souther from the Nyong
- Nzaman about 2000 people on the banks of the Dja, close to Ambam.
- Mvai about 18.000 people, they can be found both the the East and West of the
Ntumu
territory.
- Betsi
- Okak
- Mekeny
- Meke
----
(1) Deschamps (Hubert): "Traditions orales et archives au Gabon",
Paris 1962, 172 pages. Roi
de la brousse
(2) Ombolo (Jean-Pierre): "Elements de base pour une approche
ethnologique et historique des Fang-Beti-Boulou (groupe dit
pahouin)", Yaoundé 1983
Related books:
 Art
of Equatorial Guinea The Fang tribes of Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial
Guinea carved polished wooden statues, used in ancestor worship, that are
fiercely enigmatic and were said to possess certain powers. Manipulation of
these naked female and male figures was believed to resuscitate the dead. French
ethnologist Perrois and Spanish art historian Delage set these statues in the
context of Fang religion, which includes secret initiation societies, witchcraft
and ritual sacrifice. They discuss the Fangs' migrations from savannahs to
jungles and trace expeditions into West Africa by European explorers and
ethnologists from the late 19th century to the 1940s. Also showcased in color
and black-and-white illustrations are ceremonial masks, brass collars worn by
men and women, and canes in the form of human figures. The book brings to light
an art that reached its high point a century ago and has all but disappeared. Art
of Equatorial Guinea Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Fang
Louis Perrois
Inform on Fang Ntumu availability or any question:
Fang
N'Tumu
size: 40 cm
price: not available
| 
+32
3 227.35.40
Meet
David Norden at NYC Tribal Art Show 2012 in May