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Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Mangaaka)

Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Not on view

This Mangaaka figure, obtained by Visser in the Loango region before 1904, is one of three that he procured for the Leipzig Museum. Another example may have been destroyed during World War II and a third was deaccessioned and later acquired by the Detroit Institute of Arts. This example remains engulfed in the extensive empowering additions contributed by a ritual specialist. These take the form of a beard that extends around the perimeter of the jaw composed of plant matter and the ritual garment around the lower body, or makolo, composed of bundles of woven and tied fibers.

Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Mangaaka), Wood, iron, resin, cowrie shell, ceramic, plant fiber, textile, pigment, Kongo peoples; Yombe group

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