id: 168726 accession number: 2010.432 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.432 updated: 2023-04-22 12:24:40.751000 Male figure (nkisi nkondi), late 1800s-early 1900s. Democratic Republic of Congo or Cabinda (Angola), Kongo artist and nganga (priest). Wood, metalized glass, iron, organic material, ivory or plastic, and natural fiber; overall: 46 x 25.7 x 19.2 cm (18 1/8 x 10 1/8 x 7 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.432 title: Male figure (nkisi nkondi) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: late 1800s-early 1900s creation date earliest: 1880 creation date latest: 1920 current location: creditline: René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund copyright: --- culture: Democratic Republic of Congo or Cabinda (Angola), Kongo artist and nganga (priest) technique: Wood, metalized glass, iron, organic material, ivory or plastic, and natural fiber department: African Art collection: African Art type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 46 x 25.7 x 19.2 cm (18 1/8 x 10 1/8 x 7 9/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Fragments of the Invisible: The Rene and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture opening date: 2013-10-27T00:00:00 Fragments of the Invisible: The Rene and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014). title: Currents and Constellations: Black Art in Focus opening date: 2022-02-20T05:00:00 Currents and Constellations: Black Art in Focus. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 20-June 26, 2022). title: Julie Mehretu: Portals (FRONT International: Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows) opening date: 2022-07-16T04:00:00 Julie Mehretu: Portals (FRONT International: Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 16-November 13, 2022). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Jean Willy Mestach [1926-2014], Brussels, Belgium, sold to René and Odette Delenne date: ?–1962 footnotes: citations: René [1901–1998] and Odette Delenne [1925–2012], Brussels, Belgium, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 1962–2010 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2010– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: A mix of locally made and imported metal nails, blades, and screws cover this figure. digital description: This nkisi nkondi (power figure) lacks most of the materials that transformed it into a vessel for a spirit. Carved by sculptors, minkisi hosted spirits after banganga (priests) placed substances inside to empower them. The mirrored eyes, resin cap, and stomach chamber once contained empowering materials. After the nkisi had served its purpose the nganga removed the materials, stripping it of its spiritual power; the remaining sculpture was discarded. Sometimes, Kongo people removed materials as acts of anti-colonial resistance, disempowering minkisi before Europeans seized them. While we don’t know why it was disempowered, this sculpture is no longer spiritually active. wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Petridis, Constantine, et al. Fragments of the Invisible: The René and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2013, 23, 51, 96. page number: Mentioned: pp. 23, 46-47, 113; reproduced: pp. 51, 96, cat. 12 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.432/2010.432_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.432/2010.432_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.432/2010.432_full.tif