Small power figure "nkisi" ·  D. R. Congo, Songye · ID: 3036517

Description

wood, fabric, cord, brass tags, loincloth, vaulted belly with drilled hole and tubes of farbric filled with magical mass, opening in the head (for insertion of an animal horn) with remains of fabric and mass, the facial plane mostly stud with brass tags, slightly dam., cracks, base;
Songe “mankisi” can be generally divided into two basic categories depending on size. Large examples are the collective property of a village and serve community needs, wheras small figures are personal belongings of an individual or at the most a family. The literature speaks of community “mankisi” and personal “mankisi”. The latter were meant to preserve womens fertility, they also protected against sorcerers, guarded the home against lightning, or ensured good harvest. The majority of personal “mankisi” were discarded soon after their production, for once the desired effect was attained, the empowering substances lost their efficacy.

The object Small power figure “nkisi” with the object ID 3036517 was last part of the auction 76th tribal art auction at March 22, 2014 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 595.

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.