TERA Gallery - African Art and Antiquities

"Altering The Way You View The World Of Art"
Type of Object:     
    Nkisi Nkonde Power Figure

    The best known of Congo art is the nkisi, a term which is
    untranslatable, but which refers to carved figures which are used
    for dealing with problems “ranging from public strife, theft and
    disease to the hope of seducing women and becoming wealthy.   

    An nkisi generally contains relics from someone who has died, or
    clay from the cemetery.   It also contains medicines.  When there
    are nails or blades protruding, it is call an nkondi, which means
    “the hunter.”  The nkonde are the most powerful of the nkisi.  They
    were used to identify and hunt down unknown wrongdoers such as
    thieves, and people who were believed to cause sickness or
    death by occult means.  They were also used to punish people
    who swore false oaths and villages that broke treaties.  

    To inspire the nkondi to action, it was both invoked and
    provoked.  Invocations, in bloodthirsty language, encouraged it to
    punish the guilty party.  Having gunpowder exploded in front of it,
    and having nails hammered into it would also provoke it.  They
    were also used to literally “hammer out agreements”...with clear
    implications as to what would happen to people who broke the
    agreements.  The nkisi are used by their owner or the nganga
    (sorcerer/spiritual specialist) to please the different spirits who
    are supposed to regulate the world.  When an nganga believes
    that a figure has lost its power, it is discarded and made again.  A
    fearsome figure, with glass covered belly enclosure.  

Ethnic Group:       
    Knonde Society      

Country of Origin:          
    Congo

Material:                       

Deminsions:

Reference:         
    Tribal Arts of Africa by - Bacquart

    Africa - The art of a Continent- Guggenheim Museum