Title:
Kongo Fetish Figure, Possibly Yombe
Object Name:
Figure, Fetish, Kongo
Other Name:
Figure, Fetish, Possibly Yombe
Place of Origin:
Kongo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa
Provenance:
Aboriginal Indigenous Art.
The Kongo peoples use Nkissi Nkondi figures to bind oaths, seal contracts, or finalize treaties. To complete an agreement, packets containing bilongo power substances, such as earth from a tomb, river mud, and powered camwood, are attached to the figure with twine. Nails and pieces of metal are driven into the figure to activate its spirit. If the oath is broken, it is belived that the spirit embodied in the ferocious looking figure will punish the transgressor with a spear, originally held in the hole in the figure's right hand.
In order to stimulate and obtain a spirit's protection, Kongo people hammer nails into its wooden representation, shout at it, and sometimes insult it.
Bacquart, P. 128 — 131.
Nail and mirror fetishes are a unique and important phenomenon of Kongo sculpture. In the Kongo, all these fetishes are called nkisi. Nkisi means “medicine”. Historically, there were two types of nkisi, public and private, with some having vital democratizing roles, as sources of empowerment for rural residents and individuals outside the court. At most basic, the nkisi represents a container of empowering materials or “medicines” called bilongo. The magical substances may be blood along with animal, vegetable, and mineral matter. They are believed to invest the fetish figure with power and make it possible for the devotee to establish contact with the spirit. The “medicines” are generally secured in cavities in the stomach, head, or back to activate the work with the empowering agent. The nkisi, properly endowed with magic substances and additions by the nganga or doctor, had the power to act in a number of ways. There are four main types of nkisi, used for different purposes. Nkondi are fetishes of ill omen, usually brandishing a spear or a knife, while npezo are just as evil, but less menacing in attitude. Na moganga are benevolent figures, which protect against sickness and dangerous spirits. They help the hunter and the warrior; while mbula protect against witchcraft. All nkisi can be used for a variety of purposes and their meaning is ambivalent. The fetishes also may represent animals: two—headed dog, sometimes monkey.
The Kongo peoples use Nkissi Nkondi figures to bind oaths, seal contracts, or finalize treaties. To complete an agreement, packets containing bilongo power substances, such as earth from a tomb, river mud, and powered camwood, are attached to the figure with twine. Nails and pieces of metal are driven into the figure to activate its spirit. If the oath is broken, it is belived that the spirit embodied in the ferocious looking figure will punish the transgressor with a spear, originally held in the hole in the figure's right hand.
In order to stimulate and obtain a spirit's protection, Kongo people hammer nails into its wooden representation, shout at it, and sometimes insult it.
Bacquart, P. 128 — 131.
Nail and mirror fetishes are a unique and important phenomenon of Kongo sculpture. In the Kongo, all these fetishes are called nkisi. Nkisi means “medicine”. Historically, there were two types of nkisi, public and private, with some having vital democratizing roles, as sources of empowerment for rural residents and individuals outside the court. At most basic, the nkisi represents a container of empowering materials or “medicines” called bilongo. The magical substances may be blood along with animal, vegetable, and mineral matter. They are believed to invest the fetish figure with power and make it possible for the devotee to establish contact with the spirit. The “medicines” are generally secured in cavities in the stomach, head, or back to activate the work with the empowering agent. The nkisi, properly endowed with magic substances and additions by the nganga or doctor, had the power to act in a number of ways. There are four main types of nkisi, used for different purposes. Nkondi are fetishes of ill omen, usually brandishing a spear or a knife, while npezo are just as evil, but less menacing in attitude. Na moganga are benevolent figures, which protect against sickness and dangerous spirits. They help the hunter and the warrior; while mbula protect against witchcraft. All nkisi can be used for a variety of purposes and their meaning is ambivalent. The fetishes also may represent animals: two—headed dog, sometimes monkey.
Description:
Standing wooden figure with large oval—shaped flat face, long rectangular—shaped nose leading to top of forehead, small slit eyes and small oval—shaped mouth. Sideways V—shaped ears, under ridge adorned with cowrie shells, spanning to top center of head and coming to rectangular—shaped crest, wrapped with cloth adorned with cowrie shells and trailing down back of head to upper shoulders. Short cylindrical neck, shoulders and upper chest circled by raffia and cloth rings, adorned with feathers, small gourds, horns and shells. Arms carved away from body, coming to rest at hips. Waist wrapped in raffia and cloth skirt, adorned with small gourds. Short square base with small feet. Black, brown and tan paint or patina covering entire surface area.
Collection:
Guy Mace Collection, (Turblex Company)
Material:
Wood W/Cloth, Gourds, Horns, Shells, Feathers, Raffia and Paint or Patina
Used:
Ritually Used
Technique:
Carving / Painting / Weaving
Owned:
Art Department, Missouri Southern State University
Accession#:
2015.2.45
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Front View
Front View - 2
Front View - 3
Front View - 4
Right Side View
Left Side View
Rear View
Rear View - 2
Rear View - 3
Front View
Front View - 2
Front View - 3
Front View - 4
Right Side View
Left Side View
Rear View
Rear View - 2
Rear View - 3