Standing power figure "nkisi" ·  R. D. 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.

Littérature comparée

Mestach, Jean Willy, Songye Studien, München 1985, ill. 19