GABONESE FANG PEOPLE NLO BYERI HEAD. Wooden sculpture identified as an Nlo Byeri statue from the Fang people of northern Gabon. These sculptures, also referred to as angokh-nlo-byeri, served as guardians for reliquary boxes containing the skulls and bones of ancestors, protecting them from sacrilege. Characterized by an elongated face, high cheekbones, a curved forehead, and large, hollowed eye sockets, sometimes inlaid with bone or punctuated with brass tacks. - Height: 50 inches. Estimate $300-500
