A FANG WOOD, BRASS AND NAILS 'EYEMA BYERI' RELIQUIARY GUARDIANGabon, Fang59 cm high Provenance: Vittorio Bellini (1936-2009) collection.In the Fang communities the bones of the ancestors were preserved in cylindrical baskets on which anthropomorphic sculptures like this were placed. The reliquary was therefore kept in a protected area of the house, and periodically - for the purpose of obtaining well-being for the community - it was offered to him with the simultaneous sprinkling of a liquid based on palm oil and 'padouk' wood dust.