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Figurine
late 1800s-early 1900s
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
One of seven anthropomorphic figurines, these <em>minkisi</em> contained medicines in which an ancestral spirit was believed to reside. <em>Minkisi</em> were objects of communal use; if conflict arose between two citizens, the Nkisi figure, along with the <em>nganga</em> (ritual leader) helped resolve the dispute. This small figure belonged to “the sorcerer of Loango,” chief of all sorcerers of that region (a province and port in West Central Africa).
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Details
- Title: Figurine
- Date Created: late 1800s-early 1900s
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 12 x 4 x 4 cm (4 3/4 x 1 9/16 x 1 9/16 in.)
- Provenance: (Unidentified art dealer, Nice, FR, 1961, sold to René and Odette Delenne), René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2010
- Type: Sculpture
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.442
- Medium: Wood, organic materials (including resin), iron, reed, tooth, seashell or glass beads, and possibly plastic
- Fun Fact: This small figure belonged to “the sorcerer of Loango,” chief of all sorcerers of that region (a province and port in West Central Africa).
- Department: African Art
- Culture: Central Africa, Republic of the Congo, Kongo people
- Credit Line: René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
- Collection: African Art
- Accession Number: 2010.442
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