Fang (Fan, Mpangwe, Pahuin, Pamue, Pangwe), Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon

Ngil ceremonial mask. The people that are called “Fang” in the geographic or ethnographic literature number 800,000 and constitute a vast mosaic of village communities, established in a large zone of Atlantic equatorial Africa comprising Cameroon, continental equatorial Guinea and nearly the whole north of Gabon, on the right bank of the Ogowe River. Historically the Fang were itinerant, and it is relatively recently that they have settled into this broad area. Fang are principally hunters but also agriculturists. Their social structure is based on a clan, a group of individuals with a common ancestor, and on the family. The ngil (gorilla) masks were worn by members of a male society of the same name during the initiation of new members and the persecution of wrong-doers. Masqueraders, clad in raffia costumes and attended by helpers, would materialize in the village after dark, illuminated by flickering torchlight. Fang ngil masks are painted white with facial features outlined in black. Apparently it has been linked with the dead and ancestors, since white is their color.

Material: wood

Size: 17½”x 7”x 5”

Price: $200+$28 (S&H)                                         [#N9F5M710]