Male Figure (Nkisi)

late 1800s-early 1900s

Male Figure (Nkisi), late 1800s-early 1900s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo (most likely), Cabinda, or Republic of the Congo, probably Yombe-style maker. Wood, organic material (including resin), metalized glass, and cloth; overall: 17 x 5.3 x 7 cm (6 11/16 x 2 1/16 x 2 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.434 Nkisi is often associated with the word spirit, as these figures are believed to host a variety ancestral spirits. With an intact mirror-covered stomach cavity, this figure was not decommissioned before sale or disposal, deeming its particular powers sustained. The cloth knots and carvings suggest that it was used to bind agreements or oaths, and to reconcile social and cosmological contradictions. The medicinal substances remain intact in this particular figure, which is rare, as most were decommissioned before museum acquisition.