Standing power figure "biteki" ·  D. R. Congo, Teke · ID: 3035372

Description

wood, partly shiny brown patina, rectangular cavity with remains of magical substances, the face coated with striated scarification marks, tribe-typical headgear, min. dam., missing parts (foot tips), traces of insect caused damage, socle;
such protective and magical figures are used as a prophylaxis against sleeping sickness and other illnesses. In some examples the medicine package “bilongo” is missing. Such packages are often scraped out by the “nganga”, little by little, and sold as healing or protective dust. The “biteki” are figures supposed to act magically, opposed to the “buti”, the ancestor figures.