id: 168727 accession number: 2010.433 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.433 updated: 2019-06-05 09:49:00.816000 Male Figure, late 1800s-early 1900s. Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cabinda, or Republic of the Congo, probably Vili people. Wood, fabric, shells, beads, feathers, resin, glass, twine or cord; overall: 42 x 11.8 x 23 cm (16 9/16 x 4 5/8 x 9 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.433 title: Male Figure 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: 108A Sub-Saharan creditline: René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund copyright: --- culture: Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cabinda, or Republic of the Congo, probably Vili people technique: wood, fabric, shells, beads, feathers, resin, glass, twine or cord department: African Art collection: African Art type: Wood find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 42 x 11.8 x 23 cm (16 9/16 x 4 5/8 x 9 1/16 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 (organizer) (October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * --- PROVENANCE Jef Vanderstraete, Lasne, BE, before 1960, sold to René and Odette Delenne. date: ?-1960 footnotes: citations: René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 1960-2010 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2010 date: 2010 footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Different from other figures functioning as defense against witches or misfortune, its “night guns,” or nduda, are missing. digital description: Nkisi is an object that is believed to host an ancestral spirit. Unusual from other figures, this Nkisi figure is missing its nduda, “night guns.” These guns would be filled with gunpowder functioning as defense against witches or misfortune. Unless its guns were lost during the course of its life history, this nkisi may instead be an example of a more general type called mpanzu, whose functions included protection. wall description: Its size, facial features, feather headdress (as worn by a local nganga or ritual specialist), and hangings of cloth seem to indicate that this nkisi figure in Vili style belongs to a type called nduda. While the hangings incorporate the typical shells, trade beads, knotted cloth strips, and small horns filled with medicine, they do not include the central symbol of the classic nduda: "night guns," or small grass tubes extending from clay or resin and loaded with gunpowder that was discharged against witches. Unless its night guns were lost during the course of its life history, this nkisi may instead be an example of a more general type called mpanzu, whose functions included protection and self-defense. --- 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, 52-53. page number: Mentioned: pp. 23, 46, 113; reproduced: pp. 52-53, cat. 13 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.433/2010.433_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.433/2010.433_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.433/2010.433_full.tif