Standing power figure "nkisi" · D. R. Congo, Songye · ID: 3037767
Description
wood, reddish brown patina with traces of black paint, encrusted in some areas, a stocky trunk with accentuated navel and disc-shaped flattened shoulders, the tube-like curved arms lifted up to the face, with both hands resting on the beard, a long neck carved with rings carrying a half-spherical head with a shield-shaped facial plane, reminding of the “kifwebe” masks, small opening on top of the head, filled with magical material, slightly dam., cracks (head and hips backside, right forearm);
the form of the “kifwebe” strongly influenced the statuary art of the Songe, above all in the area of the Kalebwe, presumably because of the great meaning the “bwadi ka bifwebe” society won in that area.
The object Standing power figure “nkisi” with the object ID 3037767 was last part of the auction 78th tribal art auction at October 18, 2014 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 493 achieved a sales price of EUR 2,500.
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Comparing literature
Mestach, Jean Willy, Songye Studien, München 1985, ill. 19