Male Figure (Nkisi Nkondi)
Vili
1801–1875
- Medium
- Wood, metal, glass, fabric, fiber, cowrie shells, bone, leather, gourd, and feathers
- Dimensions
- 73.7 × 33.1 × 28 cm (29 × 13 × 11 in.)
- Genre
- sculpture
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Styles
Tags
religionleatherassemblingsupernaturalpainting (coating)bonewoodCentral Africaplant materialviliglassanimal materialcowrie shellfiberappliqué (technique)sacredsculpturecontractswood (plant material)medicineafrican Artarts of Africafeathergourdcarvingclothritual objectsadhesionmedicine objectmetal
About
The term nkisi refers to spirit-invested objects that were empowered with medicinal and magical ingredients called bilongo. In the case of this male figure, the bilongo are enclosed in the cap on the head and in the mirror-sealed resin packet on the abdomen. The name nkondi refers to the figure’s ability to hunt down and punish wrongdoers. A nail or a blade was driven into the figure to prompt the inhabiting spirit at every consultation.