Power Figure (nkisi nkondi)
- Culture
- Kongo artist
- Date
- before 1908
- Material
- Wood, iron, porcelain, glass, resin
- possibly associated with
- Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa
- possibly associated with
- Cabinda province, Angola, Africa
- Classification
- Sculpture, wood
- Collection
- Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 102
- Dimensions
- height: 25 1/4 in. (64.1 cm)
- Credit Line
- Friends Endowment Fund
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 10:2016
NOTES
“… [T]he nganga pounds on the nkisi… to awaken it, that it should arise and go.” – BABUTIDI TIMOTIO, 1916
With alert eyes, head raised, and right arm thrust upward, this figure embodies the character of a hunter. Each iron blade or nail across the torso attests to specific moments when the nganga, a ritual specialist, called the figure into action or “to the hunt.” Directed by the nganga, the figure served purposes of healing, protection, or resolution on a client’s behalf.
The figure’s white porcelain eyes, sensitively carved face, and mirrored belly emphasize the body’s spiritual power centers according to Kongo belief. These are also the sites where the nganga inserted plant, mineral, and other matter considered to be
medicinal and powerful. The mirror, suggesting the surface of water, evokes Kongo conceptualization of the ancestral realm.
Provenance
by 1908 -
Collected in west-central Africa by Paul Dorbritz, Jouy-aux-Arches, France [1]
1908 - 1967
Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, Germany (Inv. no. 57753)
1967
Ludwig Bretschneider, Munich, Germany
1967 -
Milton S. (d.1971) and Ruby Fox (d.1975), New York, NY, USA, purchased from Ludwig Bretschneider [2]
2015 - 2016
Galerie Jacques Germain, Montreal, purchased at auction "American Indian & Ethnographic Arts," at Skinner, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, March 14, 2015, lot no. 65
2016 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Galerie Jacques Germain [3]
Notes:
[1] Dorbritz served in the German colonial administration in Cameroon during 1901-1902, and as German consul to the Congo State, French Congo and Portuguese Angola during 1903-1905.
[2] An invoice dated October 3, 1967 from L. Bretschneider to Mr. Milton S. Fox documents the purchase of this object, listed as "Nailfetisch Loango Congo" [SLAM document files].
[3] An invoice dated February 24, 2016 from Jacques Germain to the Saint Louis Art Museum documents the purchase of this object, listed as "Nkishi nkondi Nail Fetish" [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, February 23, 2016.
Collected in west-central Africa by Paul Dorbritz, Jouy-aux-Arches, France [1]
1908 - 1967
Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, Germany (Inv. no. 57753)
1967
Ludwig Bretschneider, Munich, Germany
1967 -
Milton S. (d.1971) and Ruby Fox (d.1975), New York, NY, USA, purchased from Ludwig Bretschneider [2]
2015 - 2016
Galerie Jacques Germain, Montreal, purchased at auction "American Indian & Ethnographic Arts," at Skinner, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, March 14, 2015, lot no. 65
2016 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Galerie Jacques Germain [3]
Notes:
[1] Dorbritz served in the German colonial administration in Cameroon during 1901-1902, and as German consul to the Congo State, French Congo and Portuguese Angola during 1903-1905.
[2] An invoice dated October 3, 1967 from L. Bretschneider to Mr. Milton S. Fox documents the purchase of this object, listed as "Nailfetisch Loango Congo" [SLAM document files].
[3] An invoice dated February 24, 2016 from Jacques Germain to the Saint Louis Art Museum documents the purchase of this object, listed as "Nkishi nkondi Nail Fetish" [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, February 23, 2016.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.