GothamGallery Fine African Art - DRC Kongo Nkisi Fet (07/18/2009)...

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GothamGallery Fine African Art - DRC Kongo Nkisi Fetish

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GothamGallery Fine African Art - DRC Kongo Nkisi Fetish

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Sold Date: 07/18/2009
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art

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Exquisite African DRC Kongo Nkisi Paternity Fetish

Measurement: Height: 19 Width: 5.75 Depth: 6.5 Inches
Measurement: Height: 48.5 Width: 14.5 Depth: 16.5 Centimeters
Measurement Statue Only
Material: Wood, Pigment, Metal Sheets, Nails, Vegetal Material, Shell
Estimated Age: Early 20th Century
Condition: Good
Remarks: Highly stylized figure striking features magical attribute powerful piece aged brown patina
Shipping: US East Coast - Estimated $15.00
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Documentation of Authenticity / Provenance Will Be Included With This Piece

CONDITION
Wood deterioration especially to base, chips and scrapes, long age cracks, lost of vegetal material, lost of metal corroded metal sheets top of head, overall condition good. Thank you and please view my other items.
BACKGROUND
The Kongo peope are present in three countries – the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and the Congo Republic – the Kongo occupy the region at the mouth of the Congo River. Numerous subgroups go to form the vast Kongo cultural complex, among which are the Vili, the Woyo and the Yombe. These tribes produce a diversity of artistic styles, with Kongo art being one of the best known. The Kongo demonstrate the extreme complexity of their traditions on major occasions, such as the investiture of a chief or at funerals. The Kongo pantheon was small: one all-powerful god who gave healing powers to the king, to the Nganga, and to the heads of cults. Besides their textiles of great renown, the Kongo had a funerary art of decorated steles and funerary statues in stone, very often depicting the chief seated cross-legged in a posture of reflection. Some of these statues were placed on tombs to aid the spirits of the dead to join the world of the deceased. They produced wood sculptures representing royal wives, hunters, musicians, and healers. Their postures vary: sometimes they kneel in a position of respect, the head bent slightly backwards; women might be depicted seated with the child they hold by the neck or whom they are nursing. The cheeks are round and the face carefully rendered, is usually realistic. The patina is smooth, the bust scarified. Elaborate geometrical patterns occur on the pedestal or the body, w they may be mingled with fine scarification marks. The figures were used to ward off danger to mothers during delivery and to protect the health of the child. The commemorative statues known as Phemba were designed for women who had lost a child and wanted another. These carvings, generally sophisticated and very graceful, were thought to favor such a happy event. A maternity statue’s effectiveness depended on the dignity of the figure and its youth (shown by the firmness of the breasts) and the jewelry, which augmented its beauty and status. Nail and mirror fetishes are a unique and important phenomenon of Kongo sculpture. In the Kongo, all these fetishes are called Nkisi. Nkisi means “medicine”. Historically, t were two types of Nkisi, public and private, with some having vital democratizing roles, as sources of empowerment for rural residents and individuals outside the court. At most basic, the Nkisi represents a container of empowering materials or “medicines” called Bilongo. The magical substances may be blood along with animal, vegetable, and mineral matter. They are believed to invest the fetish figure with power and make it possible for the devotee to establish contact with the spirit. The “medicines” are generally secured in cavities in the stomach, head, or back to activate the work with the empowering agent. The Nkisi, properly endowed with magic substances and additions by the Nganga or doctor, had the power to act in a number of ways. T are fo...