Power half figure "nkisi" · D. R. Congo, Nkanu · ID: 3032809
Description
wood, brown patina, camwood powder in some areas, various paraphernalia attached, animal horn and copper nails in the head, of crude form, slightly dam., missing parts through insect caused damage, cracks, on block-like base;
the small “mankisi” (sing. “nkisi”) are kept in the house and should 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 most important thing was the magical loading (“bishimba”) of the “nkisi”.
The object Power half figure “nkisi” with the object ID 3032809 was last part of the auction 69th tribal art auction at June 2, 2012 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 421 achieved a sales price of EUR 2,000.
You can find more Figures and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.