STATUE FANG,EYEMA BYERI A FANG FIGURE RIO MUNI,... Lot 53

STATUE FANG,EYEMA BYERI A FANG FIGURE RIO MUNI, EQUATORIAL GUINEA - NORTH OF GABON Height: 38 cm. (15 in.) US$380,000-540,000 PROVENANCE Acquired in situ by Guy Montbarbon, Gabon, in 1965 Collection Guy Montbarbon, Paris Collection Roger Budin, Geneva Jean-Louis Picard, Drouot-Montaigne, Paris, Collection Roger Budin and various amateurs, 8 October 1991, lot 255 Loed van Bussel (1935-2018), Amsterdam Michel Koenig (1944-2014), Brussels John Giltsof (1947-2014), London European Private Collection Sotheby's, New York, 15 May 2003, lot 52 Christine Valluet and Yann Ferrandin, Paris, from 2003 to 2006 Serge Schofel, Brussels Private Collection This Fang female statue, eyema byeri, is part of a morphology that combines expression and power with a subtle balance of forms. From a stylistic point of view, this statue is similar to the productions of the Fang of the South, in particular those of the peoples of the south of Rio Muni - the Okak of the Utamboni valley - and the neighbouring Mekè of the Monts de Cristal (cf. the study carried out by Louis Perrois on this copy on 5 June 2015). This work displays the formal characteristics of the Fang Okak and Mekè groups of the Rio Muni, namely the elongated arms and the gesture of the hands grasping the thighs at knee level - comparable to a wingspan collected by G. Tessmann between 1904 and 1907 at the Rio Muni, now preserved in the collection of the Lübeck Museum (inv. no. 5895b) and reproduced in Falgayrettes-Leveau, C., Fang, Musée Dapper, 1991, p. 59. The face has a broad forehead with a rounded shape, slightly sunken cheeks and large studded eyes framing a small nose with a curved tip. The wide mouth with fleshy lips is projected forward. It stretches out and opens to reveal spiky teeth. The two-crested, helmet-shaped coife, which integrates the ears with curvilinear pavil