Fang Reliquary Guardian (Byeri)

This Fang reliquary guardian (byeri) protected ancestral relics kept in bark containers by the Fang people of Gabon and neighboring countries. Created around 1850, the wooden figure sat atop a box containing skulls and bones of important ancestors. The calm, meditative expression and balanced proportions exemplify Fang aesthetic ideals that later influenced European modernist artists.

Picasso and other early 20th-century artists collected Fang figures, finding in them formal solutions to problems they were exploring. The geometric simplification of human features and the emphasis on essential forms resonated with Cubist and Expressionist goals. This artistic influence, however, often occurred without understanding or acknowledgment of African cultural contexts.

This guardian is at the Musée du Quai Branly.