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 asymmetrical figure wears a mpu headdress of chiefs with its characteristic geometric decoration. The pose may refer to a state of mourning.

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), cloth, glass, and various other materials
• Dimensions: Overall: 11.5 x 4.5 x 4 cm (4 1/2 x 1 3/4 x 1 9/16 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 2010.443

A detail from the museum

Different from other Minkisi who hold their power in their abdomen, this figure sits atop a sphere in which the active substances still reside.

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.