id: 168747 accession number: 2010.451 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.451 updated: 2023-04-22 12:24:40.883000 Male Figure (nkishi), late 1800s-early 1900s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Songye-style carver and nganga (priest). Wood, glass beads, brass (including upholstery studs), copper alloy, iron alloy, raffia, reedbuck antelope horn, rawhide, animal hair, human teeth, organic material, minerals, and plant fibers; overall: 64 x 24.5 x 24 cm (25 3/16 x 9 5/8 x 9 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.451 title: Male Figure (nkishi) 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: Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Songye-style carver and nganga (priest) technique: Wood, glass beads, brass (including upholstery studs), copper alloy, iron alloy, raffia, reedbuck antelope horn, rawhide, animal hair, human teeth, organic material, minerals, and plant fibers department: African Art collection: African Art type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 64 x 24.5 x 24 cm (25 3/16 x 9 5/8 x 9 7/16 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: Second Careers: Two Tributaries in African Art opening date: 2020-11-01T04:00:00 Second Careers: Two Tributaries in African Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1, 2020-March 14, 2021). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Galerie Moderne, Brussels, Belgium, sold to René and Odette Delenne) date: 1958 footnotes: citations: René [1901-1998] and Odette [1925-2012] Delenne, Brussels, Belgium date: 1958-2010 footnotes: citations: René and Odette Delenne, Brussels, Belgium, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 2010 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2010- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Researchers conducted x-ray scanning on this figure, revealing its internal structure and human teeth, an antelope horn, and animal hair. digital description: This Male Figure is an accumulation of wood, copper sheet, rows of flat iron pins, antelope horn, braided fiber ropes, black and white beads, and raffia. It is attributed to the Songye peoples of southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo and was created in the decades around the turn of the 20th century. Referred to as a power figure, this object would have been central to communal life, acting as an intercessor between spiritual and temporal worlds. It was first sold in an auction by Galerie Modernes in Brussels to the private collectors René and Odette Delenne in 1958. In 2010 the Cleveland Museum of Art acquired the sculpture. wall description: Its visual impact and workmanship suggest that this figure was used by an extended family rather than an individual. The raffia skirt around the waist and the blue and white beads are indicators of leadership. The metal appliqué covering the face and the metal blades that hedge the headgear refer to the blacksmith, a culture hero celebrated in a Songye myth narrating the formation of the state. The metal strips on the skeletal face are said to relate to lightning, signaling the figure's role as a powerful anti-sorcerer, but the contrast between white iron and red copper symbolically alludes to the ambivalent powers of the figure. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Petridis, Constantine. "René and Odette Delenne." In Tribal Art XV-4, no. 61 (Autumn 2011): 123. page number: Reproduced: fig. 9 url: Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 53 no. 05, September/October 2013 page number: Mentioned & reproduced: p. 12 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2013-05/page/12 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, cover, 26, 66, 68-75, 104. page number: Reproduced: cover, pp.69-71, 74-75; mentioned: pp. 23, 27, 66-73, 108, 114, cat. 24, figs. 36-41 url: Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 35 url: "In Case You Missed It: Fragments of the Invisible." The International Review of African American Art 25, no. 1 (2014): p. 10-11. page number: Reproduced: p. 11. url: Neyt, Francois. Songye: The Formidable Statuary of Central Africa. Munich/Berlin/London/New York: Prestel Verlag, 2009, 172-173, 290. page number: Reproduced: pp. 172-173, no. 133, p. 290, detail; mentioned: pp. 326, 388 url: Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Second Careers : Two Tributaries in African Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019 page number: Reproduced: Cover, left (detail); p. 4; p. 59, fig. 5; mentioned: p. 22, 26, 29. url: https://ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1090438741 Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth, "Second Careers: Repurposed objects reflect the conceptual strategies connecting historical and contemporary African art.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 60, no. 4 (Fall 2020): 8-9. page number: Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 8. url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.451/2010.451_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.451/2010.451_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.451/2010.451_full.tif