{
"data": {
"id": 168728,
"accession_number": "2010.434",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Male Figure (Nkisi), late 1800s-early 1900s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo (most likely), Cabinda, or Republic of the Congo, probably Yombe-style maker. Wood, organic material (including resin), metalized glass, and cloth; overall: 17 x 5.3 x 7 cm (6 11/16 x 2 1/16 x 2 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, 2010.434",
"current_location": "108A African",
"title": "Male Figure (Nkisi)",
"creation_date": "late 1800s-early 1900s",
"creation_date_earliest": 1880,
"creation_date_latest": 1920,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo (most likely), Cabinda, or Republic of the Congo, probably Yombe-style maker"
],
"technique": "Wood, organic material (including resin), metalized glass, and cloth",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "African Art",
"collection": "African Art",
"type": "Sculpture",
"measurements": "Overall: 17 x 5.3 x 7 cm (6 11/16 x 2 1/16 x 2 3/4 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"height": 0.17,
"width": 0.053,
"depth": 0.07
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 202001,
"title": "Fragments of the Invisible: The Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture",
"description": "Fragments of the Invisible: The Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014).",
"opening_date": "2013-10-27T00:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": []
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "(Ren\u00e9 De Wolf, Brussels, BE, sold to Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne)",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "?\u20131972",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "Ren\u00e9 [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1972\u20132010",
"sortorder": 2
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "2010\u2013",
"sortorder": 3
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "The medicinal substances remain intact in this particular figure, which is rare, as most were decommissioned before museum acquisition.",
"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.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60761733"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-2010.434-male-figure-nkisi"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Petridis, Constantine, et al. Fragments of the Invisible: The Rene\u0301 and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2013, 50.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: pp. 23, 46-47, 113; reproduced: p. 50, cat. 10",
"url": null
}
],
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"creditline": "Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund",
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"athena_id": 168728,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "2006-06-05T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1880,
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"updated_at": "2026-03-27 00:02:37.230000"
}
}