The kingdom of Kongo was at the height of its power in 1482, when Portuguese sailors first visited the coast of central Africa. The kingdom, founded between 1350 and 1400, was a model of centralized government, with a divine king and a network of advisers, provincial governors, and village chiefs who ruled as many as three million people. Portuguese navigators brought with them Catholic missionaries who converted the kings of Kongo leading to the creation of the first Christian kingdom south of the Jahra until its collapse in the mid-eighteenth century.
Among the most disctinctive subject of Kongo statuary are the "power figures" (nkisi, and minkisi, pl.). After a sculptor carves such a figure, a religious expert packs powerful substances about its head and into a mirror-covered receptacle on its abdomen. The diverse ingredients, which may include special earths and stones, leaves and seeds, parts of animals, bird beaks and feathers, are specially combined to attract forces and direct them to a desired goal, such as healing an illness or afflicting an enemy. As the figure is used and reused, additional materials may be added--nails, bits of cloth, beads, bells, even miniature carvings--which gradually alter its appearance.
The gestures of these figures varies to communicate specific ideas: in this example, one knee on the ground in a kneeling position indicates an attitude of respect taken before a chief.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Power Figure (Nkisi): Kneeling Male
Date:19th–20th century
Geography:Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, or Cabinda, Angola
Culture:Kongo peoples
Medium:Wood, resin, cloth traces,applied organic materials (?), bone
Dimensions:H. 11 3/16 x W. 3 3/8 x D. 4 in. (28.5 x 8.5 x 10.2 cm)
Classification:Wood-Sculpture
Credit Line:The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1969
Object Number:1978.412.521
[Charles Ratton, Paris]; Helena Rubinstein, New York and Paris, until (d.) 1965; (Parke-Bernet Gallery, New York, April 29, 1966, no. 233); Nelson A. Rockefeller, New York, on loan to The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1966–1969; The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1969–1978
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art of Oceania, Africa and the Americas from The Museum of Primitive Art," May 10–August 17, 1969.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. "African Sculpture," January 22, 1970–March 1, 1970.
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. "African Sculpture," March 21, 1970–April 26, 1970.
Brooklyn Museum. "African Sculpture," May 16, 1970–June 21, 1970.
Seattle Art Museum. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," January 5, 1975–February 16, 1975.
American Federation of Arts. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," January 5, 1975–May 15, 1977.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," March 23, 1975–May 4, 1975.
Dallas Museum of Art. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," June 8, 1975–July 20, 1975.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," August 25, 1975–October 10, 1975.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," November 9, 1975–December 21, 1975.
Toledo Museum of Art. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," April 11, 1976–May 25, 1976.
Walker Art Center. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," June 27, 1976–August 8, 1976.
Denver Art Museum. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," September 10, 1976–November 7, 1976.
de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," March 12, 1977–May 15, 1977.
Musée du Quai Branly. "Charles Ratton," June 24, 2013–September 22, 2013.
Musée du Quai Branly. "Helena Rubinstein: Madam's Collection," November 5, 2019–September 27, 2020.
Pechuël-Loesche, Eduard. Volkskunde von Loango. Stuttgart: Strecker und Schröder, 1907.
The Helena Rubinstein Collection of African and Oceanic Art, parts 1 and 2. New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries, April 21, 29, Oct. 15, 1966, no. 233.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art of Oceania, Africa, and the Americas from the Museum of Primitive Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1969, no. 415.
American Federation of Arts. Primitive Art Masterworks: an exhibition jointly organized by the Museum of Primitive Art and the American Federation of Arts, New York. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1974, no. 86.
Newton, Douglas. Masterpieces of Primitive Art: The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978, p. 169.
Thompson, Robert Farris, and Joseph Cornet. Four Moments of the Sun: Kongo Art in Two Worlds. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 1981.
MacGaffey, Wyatt. Religion and society in central Africa: the BaKongo of lower Zaire. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.
MacGaffey, Wyatt. Art and Healing of the Bakongo, Commented by Themselves: Minkisi from the Laman Collection. Stockholm: Folkens Museum-Etnografiska, 1991.
MacGaffey, Wyatt, and M. Harris. Astonishment and Power. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993, pp. 80–87, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40514625.
Thompson Robert F. "Icons for the Brave and Generous: Kongo Art at Yale." In Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin. 2005.
Thompson Robert F. Tango: the art history of love. New York: Knopf, 2007.
Dagen, Philippe, and Maureen Murphy. Charles Ratton: L'invention des arts primitifs. Paris: Skira Flammarion, 2013, p. 108, fig. 76.
MacGaffey, Wyatt. "Franchising minkisi in Loango: questions of form and function." Res vols. 65/66 (2014), pp. 148–57.
LaGamma, Alisa. Kongo: Power and Majesty. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015.
Joubert, Hélène, ed. Helena Rubinstein: La Collection de Madame. Paris: Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, 2019, pp. 35, 140, no. 53, figs. 11 (on third shelf from top, left), 122.
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