Lot No. 2064 Fine African Tribal Art, Fang Granary Shutter Door Carving (Gabon)

Description

Today you have a unique opportunity to own a part of an impressive collection of original African objects which is now being liquidated due to several unforeseen business circumstances. Please check out all of our auctions for other interesting pieces from this and other estates!
About this Piece and its Provenance:
This small granary door or shutter is being sold as part of a private corporate collection of African tribal art and artifacts. Its provenance is as follows: this piece was originally acquired by an avid collector of ethnographic antiquities in the 1970s, and was held as part of a large private collection in the Southeastern United States, unseen by the public eye.  In 2005, that collection appraised as a whole for more than two million dollars, and this piece was given a modest appraised value at 4 at that time.  An excerpt from the appraisal is in the auction photos for reference.
The collection has since been divided as part of a divorce estate proceeding by the owner. Much of this collection was sold privately or gifted to different institutional organizations at that time.  This piece remained in the collector's estate until circa 2011; Since that time, it has been held as part of the Tibiwinston, Ltd. corporate art collection.   This piece has been exhibited twice in the past year in Georgia and South Carolina, and can be most recently found in the catalog for the "Out of Africa" exhibit at the South Carolina Arts and Heritage Center (North Augusta, SC; June 6-August 19, 2016)  For more information about it's most recent exhibition, refer to The Aiken Standard newspaper article of the same date: "North Augusta Center hosts Out of Africa."
Buy-It-Now price is set just above the appraised value 12 years ago, however feel free to use the "Best Offer" feature to have us entertain an offer.  Please inspect our high resolution photographs prior to bidding; as this is a business liquidation, no refunds or exchanges are permitted.
Dimensions: 22" tall x 1" deep x 12" wide.
Condition: Very good.  This door is well carved and depicts four male tribesmen, probably signaling protection of the contents behind the door.
Origin Tribe Information:
The Fang
are principally hunters but also agriculturists. Their social structure is based on a clan, a group of individuals with a common ancestor. The ensemble of Fang peoples practice a cult devoted to ancestor lineages, the bieri, whose aim is to both protect themselves from the deceased and to recruit and aid in matters of daily life. This familial cult does not monopolize the Fang’s religious universe, for it coexists with other beliefs and rituals of a more collective character.
The bieri, gave rise to remarkable wooden sculpture. The bieri, or ancestor figure, would be consulted when the village was to change location, or when a new crop was planted, during a palaver, or before going hunting, fishing, or to war. But once separated from the reliquary chest, the sculpted object would lose its sacred value and could be destroyed. The ritual consisted of prayers, libations, and sacrifices offered to the ancestor, whose scull would be rubbed with powder and paint each time. With its large head, long body, and short extremities, the Fang bieri had the proportion of a newborn, thus emphasizing the group’s continuity with its ancestor and with the three classes of the society: the “not-yet-born,” the living, and the dead. The relics were essentially skull fragments, or sometimes complete skulls, jawbones, teeth and small bones. The bieri also served for therapeutic rituals and, above all, for the initiation of young males during the great
s
o
festival.