Power Figure (Nkisi Nkondi)
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Object Label
An nkisi nkondi serves as a container for potent ingredients used in magic and medicine, and in judicial and healing contexts. To make an nkisi nkondi, a carver begins by sculpting a human or animal figure with a cavity in the abdomen; then a ritual expert completes the work by placing ingredients with supernatural powers on the object and in the cavity provided. He activates the figure by breathing into the cavity and immediately seals it off with a mirror. Nails and blades are driven into the figure, either to affirm an oath or to destroy an evil force. The figure’s pose suggests that it may once have been carrying a knife or spear.
Caption
Kongo (Solongo or Woyo subgroup). Power Figure (Nkisi Nkondi), late 19th–early 20th century. Wood, iron, glass, fiber, pigment, bone, 24 x 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (61.5 x 17.0 x 21.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.98. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 56.6.98_front_PS6.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Title
Power Figure (Nkisi Nkondi)
Date
late 19th–early 20th century
Geography
Possible place made: Cabinda Province, Angola, Possible place made: Zaire Province, Angola, Possible place made: Kongo Central Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Medium
Wood, iron, glass, fiber, pigment, bone
Classification
Dimensions
24 x 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (61.5 x 17.0 x 21.5 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos
Accession Number
56.6.98
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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