Male Figure (nkishi) (late 1800s–early 1900s): Art, History and Details

Male Figure (nkishi) (late 1800s–early 1900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This figure's visual impact and workmanship suggest that an extended family––rather than an individual––used it. The raffia skirt around the waist and the blue and white beads are indicators of leadership. The metal appliqué covering the face and the metal blades that hedge the headgear refer to the blacksmith, a culture hero celebrated in a Songye myth narrating the formation of the state. The metal strips on the skeletal face are said to relate to lightning, signaling the figure's role as a powerful anti-sorcerer, but the contrast between white iron and red copper symbolically alludes to the ambivalent powers of the figure.

Object facts

• Title: Male Figure (nkishi)
• Date: late 1800s–early 1900s
• Culture: Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Songye-style carver and nganga (priest)
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: Wood, glass beads, brass (including upholstery studs), copper alloy, iron alloy, raffia, reedbuck antelope horn, rawhide, animal hair, human teeth, organic material, minerals, and plant fibers
• Dimensions: Overall: 64 x 24.5 x 24 cm (25 3/16 x 9 5/8 x 9 7/16 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 2010.451

A detail from the museum

Researchers conducted X-ray scanning on this figure, revealing its internal structure and human teeth, an antelope horn, and animal hair.

Collection credit

René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Petridis, Constantine. "René and Odette Delenne." In Tribal Art XV-4, no. 61 (Autumn 2011): 123.
• Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 53 no. 05, September/October 2013
• Petridis, Constantine, et al. Fragments of the Invisible: The René and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2013, cover, 26, 66, 68-75, 104.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.