Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Mangaaka)
Not on view
Once its beard, stomach packet, and skirt were in place, this Mangaaka figure was painted. Application of an overall layer of clear primer was followed by a second layer of black pigment made from decayed plant matter such as that found as silt or in bogs. Details were then added in white and red pigments as final accents. The liberally applied white is composed of kaolin, or clay, from riverbeds. The lips, cheeks, and temples, areas above the eyes, cap tabs, and chest feature traces of an indigenous red ocher. Another red pigment, used sparingly on Mangaaka figures, is the ground heartwood fiber from one or more redwoods indigenous to Central Africa.
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