Description
One of seven minkisi figures previously in the René and Odette Delenne collection, this object contained medicines in which an ancestral spirit was believed to reside. This figure is one of the two tallest in the collection. Feathers of a bird of prey adorn its head, with two small guns pointing upward and a third hanging down. It had belonged to “the sorcerer of Louboulou.”
Provenance
(Unidentified art dealer, Nice, FR, 1961, sold to René and Odette Delenne) (?-1961); René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art (1961-2010); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2010 (2010)
Accession Number
2010.439
Medium
Wood, metalized glass, organic materials (including resin), feathers, plant fibers, iron, and copper alloy
Dimensions
Overall: 34 x 9.5 x 25 cm (13 3/8 x 3 3/4 x 9 13/16 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Credit Line
René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund