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Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Kozo)

Kongo peoples; Yombe group

19th century, inventoried 1898

Not on view

The English steamboat engineer Arnold Ridyard provided the Liverpool and Manchester museums with examples of the variety of power figure known as Kozo. He appears to have acquired this one, deposited at the Salford Museum in December 1899, from W. Shawcross, an agent for the Liverpool trading company Hatton & Cookson. Ridyard commented on the respect for the power and authority these works elicited in local viewers: “When bringing two of the fetishes from shore sometime back, there was a body of men working on the road when my man and I had to pass. On seeing the Fetishes, one of them called out Cawso, Coangi [Kozo], and they immediately stopped work and took off their caps until we had passed. The Portuguese and French Governments are taking these Fetishes away by force as they stop the trade of the country.”

Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Kozo), Wood, iron, plant fiber, textile, glass, resin, feathers, leopard tooth, leather, pigment, Kongo peoples; Yombe group — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Kozo), Wood, iron, plant fiber, textile, glass, resin, feathers, leopard tooth, leather, pigment, Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Kozo), Wood, iron, plant fiber, textile, glass, resin, feathers, leopard tooth, leather, pigment, Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Kozo), Wood, iron, plant fiber, textile, glass, resin, feathers, leopard tooth, leather, pigment, Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Kozo), Wood, iron, plant fiber, textile, glass, resin, feathers, leopard tooth, leather, pigment, Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Kozo), Wood, iron, plant fiber, textile, glass, resin, feathers, leopard tooth, leather, pigment, Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Kozo), Wood, iron, plant fiber, textile, glass, resin, feathers, leopard tooth, leather, pigment, Kongo peoples; Yombe group

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Kozo)

Date: 19th century, inventoried 1898

Geography: Cabinda, Angola, Chiloango River region

Culture: Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Medium: Wood, iron, plant fiber, textile, glass, resin, feathers, leopard tooth, leather, pigment

Dimensions: H. 12 1/2 in. (31.7 cm), W. 24 1/2 in. (62.2 cm), D. 10 in. (25.4 cm)

Classification: Wood-Sculpture

Credit Line: Manchester Museum, University of Manchester

The Met

The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Met

The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.