Male power figure "nkisi"

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Description

wood, light reddish brown patina, eyes with cowrie shell inlay, the body wrapped in loincloth from plant fibre bast with magical appendages (nut, wooden sticks), tube from reptile skin around the waist, crowned by antelope horn, small rectangular openings on both sides of the neck and in the breast, drilled holes in ears and mouth, slightly dam. (right ear), crack (base);
each of the cavities, as well as the tube from reptile skin served for keeping magical loading. Statuary of the Southern Tetela emulated and interpreted styles of the northern Songe. Both groups used figures like the present which served for different purposes. They may have been used to cure illness, become rich, or ensure good hunting. The “nkisi” would have been used by a diviner “nganga” to connect to spirits in order to solve clients’ problems.

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Comparing literature

Felix, Marc L., 100 Peoples of Zaire and their Sculpture, Brussels 1987, p. 174 f.

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Publications

AHDRC: 0142381

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