Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Mangaaka)
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.The sculptors charged with personifying Mangaaka sought to underscore qualities of authoritative leadership, formidable physical force, and keen sensory acuity. The head was the focal point in terms of the figure’s proportional emphasis and the degree of careful modeling. Its gaze was intensified by defining the eyes below the curved bar of broad eyebrows as inlaid white ceramic cut into semicircles and pierced at center by a pupil in the form of a nail. In this example the ears are prominently defined as flaring projections. The mouth is open, exposing filed teeth accentuated by white pigment. Prior to this work’s removal from the Chiloango River region, new layers of white and red paint were applied to the face, perhaps to make the figures look fresh and compelling to Europeans.
Artwork Details
- Title: Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Mangaaka)
- Date: 19th century, inventoried 1904
- Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chiloango River region; Republic of the Congo; Angola
- Culture: Kongo peoples; Yombe group
- Medium: Wood, iron, resin, cowrie shell, ceramic, plant fiber, textile, gourd, pigment
- Dimensions: H. 45 1/4 in. (115 cm), W. 17 ¾ in. (45 cm), D. 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm)
- Classification: Wood-Sculpture
- Credit Line: Ethnografische Studiensammlung, Institut für Ethnologie und Afrikastudien, Johannes Gutenberg Universität (JGU), Mainz, Germany
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing