A PAHOUINE GODDESS
113
FIG. 8 (below):
Reliquary guardian figure.
Fang, Betsi; Gabon.
19th century.
Wood, copper rings, iron straps,
fabric, bones. H: 19.5 cm.
Collected by Georgette Morell-
Graeser in Lambaréné between
1908 and 1932; Camille and
Emmy Graeser Collection, Zurich
(1932–1983).
Museum Rietberg, Zurich, gift
of Camille and Emmy Graeser
Foundation, inv. RAF 819.
terror, beat a hurried retreat, in spite of the most
urgent remonstrances of the French travellers.
This unfortunate affair caused the collapse of the
expedition, which, nevertheless, has proved that
a properly equipped party may penetrate by this
route to a considerable distance into the heart of
Equatorial Africa.6
What is omitted from this adventurous account
is that an unknown number of artworks
was collected along the way. However, the frontispiece
to volume 2 of de Compiègne’s 1875
L’Afrique Équatoriale shows seven wood sculptures
acquired by the expedition (fig. 4). The text
is coy about details, but the caption provides interesting
information. It reads “Idoles des Pahouins,
des Gallois et de Ivéia,(1) rapportées par
MM. Marche et de Compiégne. Dessiné d’après
nature par M. Breton. 1) Les six premiéres sont
partie de la collection de M. Bouvier; la déesse
Pahouine, de droit, appartient à M. Pilastre.”—
Idols of the Pahouins Fang, Gallois Galoa,
and Ivéia Vili,(1) brought back by MM.
Marche and de Compiégne. Drawn from life7 by
M. Breton. 1) The first six are part of the collection
of Mr. Bouvier; the Pahouine goddess, at
right, belongs to Mr. Pilastre.”
Being the first European to venture into the
area, de Compiégne is to be credited for getting
this as close to correct as he did. The female
figure at lower right, ultimately the subject of
this article (fig. 1), is indeed Fang, though an
unusual rendition. The other figures are from
the Ogooué and lower Congo region.
The expedition’s roughly 300-mile trip up
the Ogooué River (and then back down
again), as well as the other places it ventured
during its two-year journey, would
have taken it through or near the territories
of the peoples who produced these,
so this is very much what we would expect
to see if small, easily portable objects
were being acquired. The cultural diversity
of the sculptures suggests that they
were not collected as a group but rather
individually in different places. Marche,
who in addition to joining Brazza’s subsequent
Ogooué expedition also explored
parts of the Philippines and the Marianas,
is known to have made a priority of
collecting cultural objects as well as zoological
specimens, so he may well have been the impetus
behind these acquisitions.8
Six of the sculptures in the 1875 Breton engraving
appear again, along with three other figures
and two staffs, in an engraving after a drawing by
D. Sellier in Marche’s 1878 “Voyage au Gabon
et sur le fleuve Ogooué, 1875–1877.”9 These six
figures were noted at the time of the publication
as being in the collection of a Mr. Bouvier. Aimé
Bouvier was a naturalist at the Muséum d’Histoire
Naturelle de Paris, who financed the expedition.
10 The locations of these figures today are
not publicly known, though there are hints that
at least some of them may come to light.11
The figure at lower right in the 1875 engraving,
the “Pahouin princess,” is of particular interest.
De Compiégne was correct in his Pahouin attribution,
and, unlike its companions, its history
is reasonably well documented.12 Indeed, it is
widely considered to be the first example of Fang
sculpture to have been brought to Europe.13 A
map of the region that appears in Élisée Reclus’
1899 Africa and Its Inhabitants shows the Fang
as an overarching presence above the right bank
of the Ogooué (fig. 6). A generation earlier, when
Marche and de Compiégne ascended the river,
the Fang were relative newcomers to the area
and were aggressively expanding their territory.
It is not unreasonable to speculate
that the sculpture may have been acquired
near the eastern terminus of the expedition
around the Ivindo River.
The figure is female and sits on a
thick cylindrical base, one part of
which is carved as a cutout to reveal
a leg.14 While this kind of base
is unusual, it is not unique. Another
example of generally similar form
though quite different style and with
a heavy patina is on display at the
Museum Rietberg in Zurich (fig. 8).
The Marche–de Compiégne figure
has several old labels on its base.
The one on the front reads simply
“Afrique Equatorial Français, Gabon,”
which doesn’t tell us much we
don’t already know. The other two
are more informative. “Haut de poteau
d’ancêtre, statue de femme Fang