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 Italian Carmelo Scardino, who served as an infantry captain in the Congo Free State’s militia, or Force Publique, from 1903 to 1906, acquired this most sculpturally accomplished of Mangaaka figures. The facial features are articulated with nuanced refinement, while the expansive torso dominates the overall composition so that the transition from summit to center is especially dramatic. The broad trunk is inclined at an angle so that it aggressively leans forward and invades the viewer’s space. It tapers at its base, and in the center of the stomach the sculptor allots for a passage that takes the form of a cylindrical receptacle three-and-a-half-inches deep. The stance, with arms akimbo and hands on hips, has been described as pakala that signals an individual’s preparedness to confront challenges.
Artwork Details
- Title: Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Mangaaka)
- Date: 19th century, inventoried 1906
- Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chiloango River region; Republic of the Congo; Cabinda, Angola
- Culture: Kongo peoples; Yombe group
- Medium: Wood, iron, resin, cowrie shell, animal hide and hair (monkey?), ceramic, plant fiber, textile, pigment
- Dimensions: H. 44 1/8 in. (112 cm), W. 18 7/8 in. (48 cm), D. 14 1/8 in. (36 cm)
- Classification: Wood-Sculpture
- Credit Line: MIBACT- Polo Museale del Lazio, Museo Preistorico Etnografico Luigi Pigorini, Rome
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing