Beautiful power figure "nkisi"

D. R. Congo, Bakongo/Yombe/Vili, Cabinda/Brazzaville

sold EUR 5,500

Provenance

Brought to Europe in 1921
Old Italian Private Collection
Joaquin Pecci, Brussels, Belgium

Size

H: 31 cm

H: 12.2 inch

Description

wood, blackish brown patina, encrusted in some areas, metal necklace, eyes with painted pupils and glass inlay, deepenings in the head and in the chest originally provided with magical loading which is indicated by a lighter patina and remains of resinous blackish mass in these areas, inscribed at the bottom “1.6.21”, slightly dam., minor missing parts (left arm), cracks (back and base), various drilled holes, abrasion of paint (nose, mouth), base;
the “nkisi” object is basically a container for animal, vegetal, and mineral materials known as “medicines” (“bilongo”) that expressed by their names, forms or provenance the aims that the “nkisi” was expected to achieve and the powers that enabled it to do so. In many “minkisi” (pl.) we might find leaves of the “lusakasaka” plant, that it might “bless” the supplicant. A single seed of “luzibu”, that it might “open” matters that are hidden or closed. “Kalazima” (charcoal), that it might “smite” evildoers, and always, white kaolin clay (“mpemba) to represent the presence of powers from the land of the dead. Most of the ingredients were first reduced to unidentifiable fragments or a powder. Without its constituent elements, a “nkisi” is nothing.