H x W x D: 66 x 21 x 24.1 cm (26 x 8 1/4 x 9 1/2 in.)
Type:
Figure
Geography:
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Date:
Late 19th-early 20th century
Label Text:
Among the sculptural traditions of the Songye of the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is that of large, standing, often male figures with arms and hands placed at their sides or on their stomachs. The museum's figure has an awesome presence exemplified by masterfully carved geometric forms. The large ovoid head, columnar neck, bent legs and large flat feet set firmly on the base give the figure a secure place in its own space. The abdominal cavity once contained empowering medicines (bisimba), which have been lost.
Among the Songye, such figures (mankisi) were associated with a magico-religious society known as the bukisi, which controlled initiation camps and circumcision ceremonies. A ritual specialist added magical substances, bisimba, to activate the figure as a source of power that would ensure the well-being of a community or individual. Generally speaking, community mankisi serve a limited range of social needs such as procreation, protection against illness, sorcery, witchcraft, and war, and the preservation of territorial claims. The large size of this nkisi suggests that it served the needs of a community. Because the figures were considered dangerous, specialists maneuvered them with sticks attached to their upper arms. A figure could be judged ineffectual because of the death of the ritual specialist who had furnished it with its powers, or after failing a series of tests to measure its power. In such instances, all of its empowering materials would be removed, and thus it would be deactivated.
Description:
Standing male figure atop a cylindrical base, arms at side, with hands on the stomach next to the cavity. A horn is inserted into the top of the head, the proper left eye is a cowrie shell and the proper right eye is an iron cone. Metal sheets are attached on the center of the forehead, and the sides of the head by the eyes.
Provenance:
Robert Reisdorff, Belgian colonial administrator, acquired Belgian Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), ca. 1936
Mrs. Robert Reisdorff, Brussels, 1960s to 1986
Alan Brandt, New York, 1986
Exhibition History:
African Mosaic: Selections from the Permanent Collection, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2013–August 12, 2019 (installed July 16, 2014 to August 12, 2019)
Crosscurrents: Art of the Southeastern Congo, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, September 30, 2011-January 8, 2012, no. 27
Art and Power in the Central African Savanna: Luba, Songye, Chokwe, Luluwa, The Menil Collection, Houston, September 26, 2008-January 4, 2009; Cleveland Museum of Art, March 1-June 7, 2009; de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, June 27-October 11, 2009
Treasures, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 17, 2004-August 15, 2005
Images of Power and Identity. National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, September 28, 1983-June 5, 2004.
Tentoostelling van Kongo-Kunst. Stadthuis, Antwerp, Belgium, December 24, 1937-January 16, 1938.
Published References:
Images of Power and Identity: Selections from the Permanent Collection. 1999 (?). Exhibition brochure. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
National Museum of African Art. 1988. The Permanent Collection of the National Museum of African Art, Large-Type Edition. Museum brochure. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 140, no. 100.
Olbrechts, Franz. 1959. Les Arts Plastiques du Congo. Brussels: Editions Erasme, no. 176.
Patton, Sharon F. 2004. Treasures: Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Folio.
Pemberton III, John. 2012. Crosscurrents: Art of the Southeastern Congo, pp. 41, 78, no. 27.
Petridis, Constantine. 2006. "Politics, Religion, and Art in Central Africa: Power Figures from the Chiefdoms of the Southern Savanna." Center 26: Record of Activities and Research Reports, June 2005-May 2006. Washington, D.C.: Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts and the Publishing Office, National Gallery of Art, pp. 136-137.
Petridis, Constantine. 2008. Art and Power in the Central African Savanna. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art; Brussels: Mercatorfonds, p. 75, no. 49.
Petridis, Constantine. 2009. "Art and Power in the Central African Savanna: Sculpture of the Songye, Luba, Luluwa, and Chokwe Peoples." Tribal Art XIII:2 (51), p. 80, no. 7.
Visoná, Monica Blackmun, Robin Poyner, Herbert M. Cole and Michael D. Harris. 2001. A History of Art in Africa. New York: Harry N. Abrams, p. 423, no. 12-19 (1936 field photograph).
Content Statement:
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Museum purchase and gift of Professor David Driskell, Friends of the National Museum of African Art, Robert and Nancy Nooter, Milton F. and Frieda Rosenthal, Honorable and Mrs. Michael Samuels, Mr. Michael Sonnenreich
