Standing power figure "biteki" · R. D. Congo, Teke · ID: 3034868
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Provenance
French Collection (1970)Pierre Cornette De Saint Cyr, 15.05.2002, Drouot, Paris, Lot 259
Description
light brown wood, encrusted brown patina, trunk with cavity containing remains of magical mass, the eyes inset with glass, dam., missing parts through insect caused damage, slight traces of abrasion, wooden 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.