H x W x D: 36 x 13.5 x 13 cm (14 3/16 x 5 5/16 x 5 1/8 in.)
Type:
Figure
Geography:
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Date:
Late 19th century
Label Text:
The term nkisi (pl. minkisi) has no English equivalent. In the past "fetish" and "power figure" have been used as brief identifiers, but they do not convey the word's full meaning. A nkisi is the physical container for a spirit from the other world, the land of the dead. When activated by a specialist, or nganga througjh medicines and ritual, it has the power to heal, to protect or to punish. The mirror-covered box on the torso holds medicinal substances. Additional accumulative materials may have once been placed on the head or elsewhere on the arms and hands..
The hands to mouth gesture suggests a ritual invocation. The bracelets, anklets and cylindrical seat indicate status and leadership. There may have once been a hat of feathers on the head as would have been worn by a ritual specialist or chief.
Description:
Wood seated male figure with hands held to his open mouth and a mirror covered circular box on the torso. The top of the head is a light colored cone.
Provenance:
Paul and Ruth Tishman, New York
Exhibition History:
For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1981
Published References:
Kreamer, Christine Mullen, Bryna Freyer and Andrea Nicolls. 2007. African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 58, fig. 17.
Vogel, Susan (ed). 1981. For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 208-210, no. 124.
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