Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Mangaaka)
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.The Hatton & Cookson trading company agent Arthur Clare acquired this Mangaaka with its adjunct Kozo along the Chiloango before 1898. In a letter dated 1904, he specifies that the works were awarded to him by
the Portuguese government for acting as intermediary in a palaver between them and the natives. It may be of interest to know that owing to the great abuses of the fetish priests the Portuguese Government determined some six years ago to destroy [all] the festishes; but notwithstanding the destruction fetishism is just as it was then.
Charged with their delivery to the Salford Corporation Museum and Art Galleries, Ridyard reported the alarm that Mangaaka’s presence instilled in local youth who declined to carry or even approach the figure.
the Portuguese government for acting as intermediary in a palaver between them and the natives. It may be of interest to know that owing to the great abuses of the fetish priests the Portuguese Government determined some six years ago to destroy [all] the festishes; but notwithstanding the destruction fetishism is just as it was then.
Charged with their delivery to the Salford Corporation Museum and Art Galleries, Ridyard reported the alarm that Mangaaka’s presence instilled in local youth who declined to carry or even approach the figure.
Artwork Details
- Title: Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Mangaaka)
- Date: 19th century, inventoried 1898
- Geography: Cabinda, Angola, Chiloango River region
- Culture: Kongo peoples; Yombe group
- Medium: Wood, iron, resin, ceramic, plant fiber, textile, pigment, cowrie shell, animal hide and hair
- Dimensions: H. 46 1/2 in. (118 cm), W. 18 1/8 in. (46 cm), D. 13 2/3 in. (35 cm)
- Classification: Wood-Sculpture
- Credit Line: Manchester Museum, University of Manchester
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing