Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Mangaaka)

19th century, inventoried 1903

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

This work and five other Mangaaka figures were acquired for German institutions by a single individual, Carl Friederich Wilhelm Robert Visser. Born in Düsseldorf in 1860, Visser took on the position of plantation director for a Dutch trading company from 1882 to 1904. During this time he established coffee and cocoa plantations in areas of French Congo at Cayo, in the Belgian Congo, and in Portuguese Congo at Chiloango. According to the information he provided for the Stuttgart inventory, this Mangaaka figure was used for “the healing of bloody vomiting.”

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Mangaaka)
Date: 19th century, inventoried 1903
Geography: Cabinda, Angola, Chiloango River region
Culture: Kongo peoples; Yombe group
Medium: Wood, metal, resin, ceramic, fiber, clay, cowrie shell
Dimensions: H. 42 1/2 in. (108 cm), W. 16 1/2 in. (42 cm), D. 16 7/8 in. (43 cm)
Classification: Wood-Sculpture
Credit Line: Linden-Museum Stuttgart, Staatliches Museum für Völkenkunde
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing