Complete nsekh-o-byeri reliquary
Gabon, Middle Ogooue, Ndjolé region
Fang, Betsi subgroup. 19th century
Wood, bark, iron, plant fibres, human bones
Acquired in 1936 from Pastor Fernand Grébert, a missionary in Gabon from 1913 to 1931
MEG Inv. ETHAF 015232
Notice
The nlo byeri statuette standing on the lid of the bark reliquary incarnates Mba Baña, the founder of the Esibaña lineage. It watches over four generations of ancestors whose skull caps are stored in the same byeri. This reliquary was given to Pastor Grébert at the Talagouga mission in 1927 by the head of the Esibaña lineage, when he converted to Christianity.
Bibliography
- Grébert, F. 1940. Monographie ethnographique des Fang et Galoa du Gabon. Genève, MEG AF 406
- Wastiau, Boris. 2008. Medusa en Afrique. La sculpture de l’enchantement. Genève : MEG ; Milan : 5 Continents Editions., 185, MEG ET AF 4614
- Grébert, Fernand. 2003. Le Gabon de Fernand Grébert : 1913-1932 / introd. de Claude Savary et Louis Perrois. Genève : Musée d'ethnographie : Ed. D, cop. Collection Sources et témoignages / Musée d'ethnographie, folios 143 et 197, MEG ET AF 4009
© 2015 Musée d'ethnographie, Genève
Ville de Genève, Département de la culture et du sport