Janus-headed power figure "nkisi" · D. R. Congo, Songye · ID: 3033606
Max Willborg, Stockholm, Sweden
Belgian Private Collection
Jan Lundberg, Malmö, Sweden
Berndt Helleberg, Stockholm, Sweden
Sotheby’s New York, 18 November 1997, lot 164
Description
wood, encrusted blackish brown patina, oily in some areas, with bent legs rising from a fragmentary base, oval head with hole on top, min. dam., missing parts through insect caused damage, slight traces of abrasion, on wooden base;
smaller “nkisi” were kept inside the house in order to protect its inhabitants. They were often handed down from one generation to the next. These small “mankisi” were even taken along when people left their homes.
The object Janus-headed power figure “nkisi” with the object ID 3033606 was last part of the auction 70th tribal art auction at September 8, 2012 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 456 achieved a sales price of EUR 5,800.
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Comparing literature
Hersak, Dunja, Songye, London 1986, p. 158, ill. 116