Power figure (nkisi)
Unknown Artist
late 1800s–early 1900s
Medium
Wood, organic materials (including resin), cloth, metalized glass, possibly porcelain, and plant fiber
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.23,"width":0.09,"depth":0.11}}
Classification
Sculpture
Department
African Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
2010.441
About this artwork
This figure is one of the two tallest of the seven anthropomorphic minkisi figurines previously in the Delenne collection. Identified as an nduda, two upward “guns” are attached on its side loaded with gunpowder used to shoot witches. Its label bears the word colique, a term referring to heavy pains caused by intestinal obstruction.