Power Figure: Seated Female Nursing Child (Nkisi)

19th–early 20th century

Not on view

Returned to lender

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

In this maternity by the Master of the Boma-Vonde Region, the natural interaction between mother and child is reflected in the nuanced gesture of the child reaching for the underside of its mother’s breast. A cavity in the head is filled with medicinally charged matter, and a packet of medicines is affixed to the torso between the breasts—evidence of its consecration by a priest as an nkisi instrument used in his practice.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Power Figure: Seated Female Nursing Child (Nkisi)
Artist: Master of the Boma-Vonde Region
Date: 19th–early 20th century
Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Republic of the Congo; Cabinda, Angola
Culture: Kongo peoples; Yombe group
Medium: Wood, metal, kaolin, glass, resin, pigment
Dimensions: H. 11 1/8 in. (28.3 cm), W. 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm), D. 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm).
Classification: Wood-Sculpture
Credit Line: Steven Kossak, The Kronos Collections, New York
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing