Fang Reliquary Guardian Figure (Eyema-o-Byeri) songdynasty This rare artifact offers a

This rare artifact offers a unique glimpse into the daily life and craftsmanship that supported the empire’s success

Objects of this type were traditionally driven into the earth to stimulate agricultural fertility

While its precise meaning is uncertain

often repeating tocapus (symbols)

Fang Reliquary Guardian Figure (Eyema-o-Byeri) songdynasty This rare artifact offers aFang people, early 20th century, Cameroon or Northern Gabon, Central Africa Magnificent old male ancestor figure, eyema o byeri (also biyema biyeri or nlo byeri), carved from a single piece of hardwood and originally mounted atop a cylindrical bark reliquary. Shown in a lightly flexed stance, the figure subtly shifts its weight to the proper right, a remnant of its earlier conception as a seated formevident in the abbreviated, powerful thighs