Cleveland Museum of Art

Power figure (nkisi)

Date

late 1800s-early 1900s

Medium

Wood, organic materials (including resin), probably kaolin, and metalized glass

Culture

Central Africa, Republic of the Congo, Kongo people

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This figure is of the nduda type, characterized by the attached "guns" loaded with gunpowder and used to shoot witches. It is the only figure that adopts the threatening pose: the right hand raised, holding a spear or knife, and the left hand resting on the hip. Two guns protrude horizontally on both sides of the cylindrical medicine pack on the belly, covered with a round piece of mirror. This is the only figure in a group of seven found in a French antique shop adopting a threatening pose.

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