Power Figure: Seated Male (Nkisi)

19th century, inventoried ca.1875

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

This nkisi in the elegantly rendered form of a contemplative seated leader features traces of resin on the stomach where a pack of empowering matter was originally attached by an nganga. It was reproduced in a lithograph along with thirty other minkisi collected as part of the Loango Coast Expedition of 1873–74, organized by Adolf Bastian and sponsored by the German Africa Society. As first director of the Berlin Ethnologisches Museum, Bastian endeavored to be comprehensive in his selection of minkisi from Loango, but he did not provide specific information on any of them.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Power Figure: Seated Male (Nkisi)
Date: 19th century, inventoried ca.1875
Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Loango Coast; Republic of the Congo; Cabinda, Angola
Culture: Kongo peoples
Medium: Wood
Dimensions: H. 7 7/8 in. (20 cm), W. 3 1/4 in. (8.2 cm), D. 3 1/4 in. (8.2 cm)
Classification: Wood-Sculpture
Credit Line: Private collection
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing