A dark-brown painted sculpture with hints of orange showing through of a slim face with a long neck. The lips are drawn in a pout, the cheeks sunken, the hair pulled back in a swirl pattern and falling down in a slim column.
Gallery mode Full size at the museum

Head

Fang (Gabon; Central Africa)

Mid–late 19th century

Medium
Wood and copper
Classification
Sculpture
Dimensions
H.: 39.4 cm (15 1/2 in.)
Culture
Gabon
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
Credit line
Frederick W. Renshaw Acquisition Fund; Robert Allerton and Ada Turnbull Hertle endowments; Robert Allerton Income Fund; Gladys N. Anderson Endowment
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed

View at the Art Institute of Chicago

About this work

The neck of this head was once partially inserted into the lid of a cylindrical bark container holding selected skull and skeletal remains of an honored ancestor. Stored in the corner of a man’s sleeping room, the sculpture and box protected the ancestor’s bones and kept his power within reach of his descendants. The copper-alloy inserts in the eyes reflect light in the dark, and would have startled any intruder while adding to the head’s aura.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0

More like this

See all