The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 29, 2023

Power figure (nkisi)

late 1800s-early 1900s

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

Wood, organic materials (including resin), cloth, glass, and various other materials

Overall: 11.5 x 4.5 x 4 cm (4 1/2 x 1 3/4 x 1 9/16 in.)

René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.443

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Different from other Minkisi who hold their power in their abdomen, this figure sits atop a sphere in which the active substances still reside.

Description

One of seven anthropomorphic figurines, these minkisi contained medicines in which an ancestral spirit was believed to reside. The medicines served a metaphorical rather than literal purpose in the resolution of conflicts among Kongo people. This asymmetrical figure wears a mpu headdress of chiefs with its characteristic geometric decoration. The pose may refer to a state of mourning.

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: 58-59, cat. 17
Exhibition history

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

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2010.443