Male figure
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Object Details
- Songye artist
- Label Text
- Among the sculptural traditions of the Songye of the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is that of large, standing, often male, figures with arms and hands placed at their sides or on their stomachs.
- Among the Songye, such figures were associated with a magico-religious society known as the Bukisi, which controlled initiation camps and circumcision ceremonies. A ritual specialist added magical substances (bisimba) to activate the figure as a source of power that would ensure the well-being of a community or individual. Generally speaking, community power figures serve a limited range of social needs, such as procreation, protection against illness, sorcery, witchcraft and war, and the preservation of territorial claims. This nkisi's large size suggests that it served the needs of a community. Because the figures were considered dangerous, specialists maneuvered them with sticks attached to their upper arms. A figure could be judged ineffectual because of the death of the ritual specialist who had furnished it with its powers or if it failed a series of tests to measure its power. In such instances, all of its empowering materials would be removed and, thus, it would be deactivated.
- Description
- Standing male wood figure on a thick cylindrical base. An antelope horn projects from the top of the head and an iron spear blade is set, point up, in front of the horn. A blue glass bead necklace covers the neck.
- Provenance
- Jay C. Leff, Uniontown, Pennsylvania, before 1967
- Robert and Nancy Nooter, Washington, D.C., by 1972, to 1984
- Exhibition History
- African Art in Washington Collections, Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., May 25, 1972-January 1, 1973.
- African Tribal Art from the Jay C. Leff Collection. University Gallery, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla., March 5-26, 1967; University of South Florida, Division of Fine Arts, Tampa, Fla., April 11-May 10, 1967.
- The Art of Black Africa. University of West Virginia, Creative Arts Center, Morgantown, W. Va., March 1969.
- The Art of Black Africa, Collection of Jay C. Leff. Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pa., October 24, 1969-January 18, 1970
- Published References
- Flam, Jack D. 1967. African Tribal Art from the Jay C. Leff Collection. Gainsville: University Gallery, University of Florida, no. 58.
- Museum of African Art. 1972. African Art in Washington Collections: A Loan Exhibition at the Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: Museum of African Art, p. 43, no. 376.
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- Credit Line
- Gift of Robert and Nancy Nooter
- Late 19th-early 20th century
- Object number
- 84-12-1
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Figure
- Medium
- Wood, horn, seed pod, glass beads, iron, hide
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 52 x 11.5 x 12.7 cm (20 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 in.)
- Geography
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- See more items in
- National Museum of African Art Collection
- Object Name
- nkisi
- National Museum of African Art
- Topic
- Power
- male
- Record ID
- nmafa_84-12-1
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Usage conditions apply
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7d680eee7-4726-4fcb-bfb4-cafe5489ceec
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