a superb studded fetish. - Bakongo - DRC Congo (No reserve price)
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Description from the seller
Fetiche Nkisi Nkonde - Kongo / Yombe - RDC Zaire - Nkisi Nkonde
The Minkisi (plural of Nkisi) truly embody a spiritual entity that submits to human control through rites. They are used to resolve all kinds of problems (illness, infertility, conflicts...)
The Minkisi were also the custodians of the clan's collective memory and could also serve, on occasion, to avenge the innocent by inflicting a sudden illness on the perjurer or by killing him.
They are generally anthropomorphic statues 15 to 30 cm tall, possessing a ventral cavity in which the magical charge is placed: the bilongo.
This charge is composed of various vegetal and animal substances placed in the cavity closed by a resinous stopper adorned with shells or a mirror.
The mirror allowed the soothsayer to detect the approach of sorcerers coming from each of the four directions.
Closing this receptacle is not inconsequential, because it indicates that the powers invoked can be mastered.
It is the soothsayer, the Nganga, who, during a ceremony, places the charge and thereby activates the statue's powers with multiple touches.
Subsequently, since he is the intermediary between the person who comes to consult him and the Nkisi, the Nganga licks a nail or a metal element and drives it into the body of the statue. This ritual is sometimes reproduced in sculpture, some Nkisi having a hanging tongue.
According to sources, it should be noted that sometimes it was the client himself who licked the nail before driving it into the statue (Treasures of Africa - Tervuren page 288).
By licking the nail, the soothsayer and/or the client thus "awaken" the Nkisi's spirit, which can then be invoked.
Next, everything depended on the look.
There was the look of the Nkisi, which, through its metal eyes or bright mirror, seemed to fix the one who takes the oath.
And conversely, the look of the client, who could not take his eyes off the piece of mirror present on the statue's belly where the magical substances were hidden.
Fetiche Nkisi Nkonde - Kongo / Yombe - RDC Zaire - Nkisi Nkonde
The Minkisi (plural of Nkisi) truly embody a spiritual entity that submits to human control through rites. They are used to resolve all kinds of problems (illness, infertility, conflicts...)
The Minkisi were also the custodians of the clan's collective memory and could also serve, on occasion, to avenge the innocent by inflicting a sudden illness on the perjurer or by killing him.
They are generally anthropomorphic statues 15 to 30 cm tall, possessing a ventral cavity in which the magical charge is placed: the bilongo.
This charge is composed of various vegetal and animal substances placed in the cavity closed by a resinous stopper adorned with shells or a mirror.
The mirror allowed the soothsayer to detect the approach of sorcerers coming from each of the four directions.
Closing this receptacle is not inconsequential, because it indicates that the powers invoked can be mastered.
It is the soothsayer, the Nganga, who, during a ceremony, places the charge and thereby activates the statue's powers with multiple touches.
Subsequently, since he is the intermediary between the person who comes to consult him and the Nkisi, the Nganga licks a nail or a metal element and drives it into the body of the statue. This ritual is sometimes reproduced in sculpture, some Nkisi having a hanging tongue.
According to sources, it should be noted that sometimes it was the client himself who licked the nail before driving it into the statue (Treasures of Africa - Tervuren page 288).
By licking the nail, the soothsayer and/or the client thus "awaken" the Nkisi's spirit, which can then be invoked.
Next, everything depended on the look.
There was the look of the Nkisi, which, through its metal eyes or bright mirror, seemed to fix the one who takes the oath.
And conversely, the look of the client, who could not take his eyes off the piece of mirror present on the statue's belly where the magical substances were hidden.
Details
Indigenous object name
a superb studded fetish.
Number of objects
1
Ethnic group/ culture
Bakongo
Country of Origin
DRC Congo
Material
wood and nails
Sold with stand
No
Condition
Good condition
Height
53 cm
Width
25 cm
Depth
18 cm
Authenticity
Reproduction/replica
