Male Figure (Nkisi)
Unknown Artist
late 1800s-early 1900s
Medium
Wood, organic material (including resin), metalized glass, and cloth
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.17,"width":0.053,"depth":0.07}}
Classification
Sculpture
Department
African Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
2010.434
About this artwork
Nkisi is often associated with the word spirit, as these figures are believed to host a variety ancestral spirits. With an intact mirror-covered stomach cavity, this figure was not decommissioned before sale or disposal, deeming its particular powers sustained. The cloth knots and carvings suggest that it was used to bind agreements or oaths, and to reconcile social and cosmological contradictions.