Description
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.
Provenance
(René De Wolf, Brussels, BE, sold to René and Odette Delenne) (?–1972); René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art (1972–2010); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2010–)
Accession Number
2010.434
Medium
Wood, organic material (including resin), metalized glass, and cloth
Dimensions
Overall: 17 x 5.3 x 7 cm (6 11/16 x 2 1/16 x 2 3/4 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Credit Line
René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund