The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Male figure (nkisi nkondi)

Male figure (nkisi nkondi)

late 1800s-early 1900s
(Angola), Kongo artist and nganga (priest)
Wood, metalized glass, iron, organic material, ivory or plastic, and natural fiber
Overall: 46 x 25.7 x 19.2 cm (18 1/8 x 10 1/8 x 7 9/16 in.)
René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.432
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

A mix of locally made and imported metal nails, blades, and screws cover this figure.

Description

This nkisi nkondi (power figure) lacks most of the materials that transformed it into a vessel for a spirit. Carved by sculptors, minkisi hosted spirits after banganga (priests) placed substances inside to empower them. The mirrored eyes, resin cap, and stomach chamber once contained empowering materials. After the nkisi had served its purpose the nganga removed the materials, stripping it of its spiritual power; the remaining sculpture was discarded. Sometimes, Kongo people removed materials as acts of anti-colonial resistance, disempowering minkisi before Europeans seized them. While we don’t know why it was disempowered, this sculpture is no longer spiritually active.
  • ?–1962
    Jean Willy Mestach [1926-2014], Brussels, Belgium, sold to René and Odette Delenne
    1962–2010
    René [1901–1998] and Odette Delenne [1925–2012], Brussels, Belgium, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2010–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • 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, 23, 51, 96. Mentioned: pp. 23, 46-47, 113; reproduced: pp. 51, 96, cat. 12
  • Julie Mehretu: Portals (FRONT International: Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 16-November 13, 2022).
    Currents and Constellations: Black Art in Focus. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 20-June 26, 2022).
    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).
  • {{cite web|title=Male figure (nkisi nkondi)|url=false|author=|year=late 1800s-early 1900s|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2010.432