BAKONGO POWER COLLECTION - Nkisi power figure - Bakongo - DR Congo

Exceptional collection of nkisi (minkisi) statuettes - BAKONGO POWER

This ensemble brings together a remarkable corpus of figurines inspired by the Kongo tradition (Bakongo).

The coherence of the collection, the diversity of silhouettes, and the richness of the sculptural treatments make this a particularly evocative presentation of the ritual arts of the Kongo cultural area.

The figures are distinguished by their expressive faces, abdominal cavities, wrappings, vegetable fibers, textiles, feathers and other attached elements. These features reference the plastic vocabulary of minkisi (singular: nkisi), sculptures intended to embody a spiritual force or a specific function within Kongo societies. The term nkisi goes beyond the Western notion of “fetish.” (Smithsonian National Museum of African Art)

In Kongo tradition, the sculptor shaped the figure before the nganga (ritual specialist) introduced the bilongo into its cavities, substances placed inside the body to concentrate a power linked notably to protection, healing, mediation or the maintenance of social order. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

This collection offers a particularly seductive panorama of one of the major sculptural repertoires of Central Africa.

Each statuette will be offered individually at auction, marking its first public sale presentation, thus giving collectors the opportunity to acquire a work within a set of remarkable aesthetic and iconographic coherence.

Introduction to our specialist house

Based in Belgium, our specialist house in art and appraisal focuses on African and ethnographic art. A leading seller on Catawiki for more than 8 years, we enjoy a solid reputation and a track record of several hundred sales with an almost 100% satisfaction rate.

We regularly assist with liquidations, successions and dispersals of collections, in collaboration with private individuals and families in Belgium and neighboring countries. Our approach is rigorous, transparent and accessible, with many sales offered without a reserve price.

Some pieces that have passed through our hands have joined international private collections and, in some cases, museums.

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Contact 7 days a week: we remain available for any questions or requests for additional information.