Minneapolis Institute of Art
Power figure
Songye artistLinkedCulture matchlcp-6dcf76a9d9f3
- Date
- c. 1900
- Medium
- Wood, horn, brass tacks, metalwork, glass beads, fiber
- Culture
- Songye
- Department
- Arts of Global Africa
- Institution
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Object ID
- 3862
From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record
In a small house at the edge of a Songye village, a ritual expert would have kept a large power figure. Contrary to the much smaller personal power figures, these communally owned ones were invoked for general welfare and protection against illness, sorcery, and war. The three horns atop this figure’s head once contained substances that enhanced its mystical power. When impending danger was sensed, two men would carry the figure through the village to ward off evil, holding it with wooden poles passed under its armpits. Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa
The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- The John R. Van Derlip Fund
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Minneapolis Institute of Art and other institutions.