Fang Bellows, Gabon

Allan Stone, New York

The transformative powers of fire have long fascinated mankind, of all ages and cultures. A dangerous force believed to be a manifestation of the spiritual realm, the element's creative and destructive force was such that it had to be controled with the assistance and help of ancestral spirits. For this reaosn, bellows used by Fang blacksmiths for blowing air into the fire incorporated figural elements, or as the case in the Stone bellows, were entirely anthropomorphic with an abstract body and a fully executed head. The Stone bellows are one of the most beautiful examples knwon of the latter type. For a closely related sculpture by the same artist which was given in 1949 by Mlle. Arsandeaux to the Musée de l'Homme, Paris (today Musée du Quai Branly, inv. no. "49.20.5") see Perrois (1987: 139-140, cat. 31).