Mask - Congo (No reserve price)

Bakongo fetish statue of Congo

Among the Kongo, minkisi (sing. nkisi) probably constitute the broadest class of spirits. It has up to today given rise to the production of a very large number of sculptures that are true 'objects of power' intended to act on the world and on all beings that populate it. Anthropomorphic minkisi constitute only a fraction of them, no doubt the most known because it has long attracted the interest of ethnographers and collectors. If they are sculpted by artists, they will not be sanctified, shaped, 'armed' with magical substances and manipulated except by ritual specialists called nganga. These are socially recognized in Kongo culture as useful. They respond to the various requests of individuals who feel afflicted or threatened by evil spirits. For example, a nganga will use his minkisi to restore hunting success to a hunter, to find and neutralize a sorcerer who threatens his client's life, or to protect a village from thefts and assaults. Some are used to settle conflicts between persons, between families or between clans. Of all the types of minkisi, nkondi minkisi are recognized as the most aggressive 'objects of force', capable of being used for violent attacks likely to cause death. They have as their distinctive sign