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Office of colonial agent Hecker in French Equatorial Africa

Office (Factorerie) of colonial agent A. Hecker in Pointe-Noire, a city on the west coast of French Equatorial Africa (Afrique ?atoriale fran?se, AEF; today Republic of the Congo). The colony comprised territories of present-day Chad, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon. Date: circa 1910

© Mary Evans / Pharcide

Figure of the reliquary Bwete or Bwitti (Gabon)

Figure of the reliquary Bwete or Bwitti (Gabon). The Mahongwe practice an ancestor cult (bwiti or bwete) that was at the center of a system of beliefs and rites and ancestor worship formed the core of the family group's religious and social life. African art. Mixted Technic. Private Collection. Proc: GABON

© BeBa/Iberfoto/Mary Evans

These figures, known as Bieri, were seated on bark boxes containing the skulls

These figures, known as Bieri, were seated on bark boxes containing the skulls and bones of ancestors, both to guard the relics and as a focus for prayers, complaints and sacrifices. Full figure, Country of Origin: Gabon, Equatorial Africa. Culture: Northern Fang. Date/Period: 19th-20th C. Place of Origin: Gabon. Material Size: Wood.. Credit Line: Werner Forman Archive / Courtesy Entwistle Gallery, London.. Location: 03

© Werner Forman Archive / Heritage-Images