Power figure (nkisi) (late 1800s-early 1900s): Art, History and Details

Power figure (nkisi) (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:

One of seven anthropomorphic figurines, these minkisi contained medicines in which an ancestral spirit was believed to reside. The medicines served a metaphorical rather than literal purpose in the resolution of conflicts among Kongo people. This figure contained white- and red-colored medicine loads on its belly and back. Its pose may refer to the nkisi’s capacity to see more than others.

Object facts

• Title: Power figure (nkisi)
• Date: late 1800s-early 1900s
• Culture: Africa, Central Africa, Republic of the Congo, Kongo-style maker
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: Wood, organic materials (including resin), and metalized glass
• Dimensions: Overall: 17 x 7 x 6.5 cm (6 11/16 x 2 3/4 x 2 9/16 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 2010.437

A detail from the museum

The nduda minkisi were loaded with gunpowder and/or medicine to protect their owners and to shoot “witches” and other enemies.

Collection credit

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

Further reading listed by the museum

• 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, 54-58.

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.