Nkondi witchraft figure - Kongo - Congo - SOLD
They are also called by Kongos "kozo" which means "cry of terror".Minkisi (wooden) statues are the material support of the spirits of the ancestors and the means to appeal them from the afterlife for uses for therapeutic medical use and to provide solutions to certain societal problems. These are the images of the ancestors, their protective spirits and the mediators between the two worlds, the visible and the invisible.Extract the minkisi from their home environment, from the family environment in which were created, disable them and make them completely helpless.The nails or metal blades inserted in the statue are physical signatures and concretizations of pacts. Wood is a material, alive; the shock produced by the metal insert energizes and wakes up the statue to witness the contractual act.The "nganga = specialist of the ritual", that is to say the sculptor and the divine priest is the only one in charge of using the nkisi to intervene in order to face the problems of the life: disease, sterility, conflicts, witchcraft .Applying for nkisi helps to find solutions to conflicts by means of intimidation, and if necessary, the punishment of the people at the root of the problem.To make the nkisi active and effective, the nganga must complete its action by inserting a "bilongo" (magic packets) into an abdominal, frontal or dorsal cavity of the nkisi nkondi; then this cavity is enclosed by a piece of mirror when it is situated on the belly, and by a cauri (shell), if cavity is situated elsewhere.There are two types of minkisi: benevolent minkisi preserving fertility, good health, peace, prosperity of society and individuals;avid minkisi seeking to annihilate the perpetrators and defend the society and individuals of witchcraft and the actions of evil spirits.The minkisi represent priests with a small ridge and bodies with nails or metal blades, or nails and blades, but there are also minkisi animals: dogs and dogs janiformes (janicephales = two opposing faces) )The nganga in charge of Nkisi nkondi must know the history attached to each nail or blade in order to cancel the wish in case of rupture of an agreement.SpecsOriginEx private collection BelgiumSize25 x 12 cmDatingCirca 1950 - 1960Material(s)Wood
00042
Data sheet
- Presumed dating
- Circa 1950
- Size
- Ethnic group
- Material(s)
- Wood
- Country
- Origin
- Tribal art collection Belgium
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They are also called by Kongos "kozo" which means "cry of terror".Minkisi (wooden) statues are the material support of the spirits of the ancestors and the means to appeal them from the afterlife for uses for therapeutic medical use and to provide solutions to certain societal problems. These are the images of the ancestors, their protective spirits and the mediators between the two worlds, the visible and the invisible.Extract the minkisi from their home environment, from the family environment in which were created, disable them and make them completely helpless.The nails or metal blades inserted in the statue are physical signatures and concretizations of pacts. Wood is a material, alive; the shock produced by the metal insert energizes and wakes up the statue to witness the contractual act.The "nganga = specialist of the ritual", that is to say the sculptor and the divine priest is the only one in charge of using the nkisi to intervene in order to face the problems of the life: disease, sterility, conflicts, witchcraft .Applying for nkisi helps to find solutions to conflicts by means of intimidation, and if necessary, the punishment of the people at the root of the problem.To make the nkisi active and effective, the nganga must complete its action by inserting a "bilongo" (magic packets) into an abdominal, frontal or dorsal cavity of the nkisi nkondi; then this cavity is enclosed by a piece of mirror when it is situated on the belly, and by a cauri (shell), if cavity is situated elsewhere.There are two types of minkisi: benevolent minkisi preserving fertility, good health, peace, prosperity of society and individuals;avid minkisi seeking to annihilate the perpetrators and defend the society and individuals of witchcraft and the actions of evil spirits.The minkisi represent priests with a small ridge and bodies with nails or metal blades, or nails and blades, but there are also minkisi animals: dogs and dogs janiformes (janicephales = two opposing faces) )The nganga in charge of Nkisi nkondi must know the history attached to each nail or blade in order to cancel the wish in case of rupture of an agreement.SpecsOriginEx private collection BelgiumSize25 x 12 cmDatingCirca 1950 - 1960Material(s)Wood