The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 31, 2023

Figurine

late 1800s–early 1900s

Africa, Central Africa, Republic of the Congo, Kongo-style maker

Wood, organic materials (including resin), cloth, metalized glass, possibly porcelain, and plant fiber

Overall: 23 x 9 x 11 cm (9 1/16 x 3 9/16 x 4 5/16 in.)

René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.441

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The object’s two small guns are pointing upward, but bears the label “colique,” a term referring to heavy pains caused by intestinal obstruction.

Description

This figure is one of the two tallest of the seven anthropomorphic minkisi figurines previously in the Delenne collection. Identified as an nduda, two upward “guns” are attached on its side loaded with gunpowder used to shoot witches. Its label bears the word colique, a term referring to heavy pains caused by intestinal obstruction.

Provenance
?-1961
(Unidentified art dealer, Nice, FR, 1961, sold to René and Odette Delenne)
1961-2010
René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
2010
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2010
Citations
Petridis, Constantine, et al. Fragments of the Invisible: The René and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2013, 54-58. Mentioned: pp. 54, 56, 113; reproduced: p. 58-59, cat. 18
Exhibition history

Fragments of the Invisible: The Rene and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2010.441