Power figure (nkisi)

late 1800s-early 1900s

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.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.443 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. Different from other Minkisi who hold their power in their abdomen, this figure sits atop a sphere in which the active substances still reside.