Male Power Figure (Nkisi) Kongo artist and nganga late19th–mid-20th century This work was the product of an intense collaboration between a sculptor and the initiated priest "nganga," who controlled its use in his professional practice. After an artist completed carving the artifact, the "nganga" transformed it into an object capable of healing illness, settling disputes, safeguarding the peace, and punishing wrongdoers. Each work of this kind or "nkisi" is associated with a spirit, that is subjected to a degree of human control. The term "nkisi" may relate to a wide spectrum of physical receptacles, including cloth packets, filled vessels, as well as the carved wood sculptures studied by art historians. This piece is especially admired for its reflective inward expression. Among the many amulets and bound bundles attached to this "nkisi," are a finely carved anthropomorphic cross and a small gong. The cross alludes to the divisi...
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