Large Fetish Reliquary Statue with Nkisi Nkondi Nails in Carved Wood, Congo, 1950s

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Large fetish reliquary statue with nkisi nkondi nails with ventral reliquary box Congo fetish in carved wood 1950s

Reliquary fetish … Read more Large fetish reliquary statue with nkisi nkondi nails with ventral reliquary box Congo fetish in carved wood 1950s

Reliquary fetish statue in carved wood and glass eyes from Congo of the nkisi nkondi ethnic group with ventral reliquary box
As you can see the statue is old, traces of time are visible.

The base is a little damaged and the balance of the statue is difficult

Minkisi (wooden) statues are the material support of the spirits of the ancestors and the means of calling them from beyond for therapeutic medical uses 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.

Extracting the minkisi from their original environment, from the family environment in which they were created, deactivates them and makes them completely powerless.

When the nkisi is a human representation, the character's eyes are wide open, almond-shaped, painted white with the black iris in the center, but they are sometimes composed of plate glass, shiny mica, metal plates or shells. The gaze of the eyes is directed towards the viewer who is face to face with the statue.

The mouth is open and sometimes showing the front teeth.

Some minkisi (plural of nkisi) statues are configured with the right hand raised and occasionally holding a weapon.

Nails, screws or metal blades are inserted into different parts of the statue. Each of the metal objects implanted in the statues is a physical signature and a concretization of a pact. Wood is a living material, the shock produced by the metal insertion energizes and awakens the spirit inhabiting the statue to witness the contractual act.
The minkisi represent priests wearing a cap and sometimes a small crest and with bodies crossed by nails, screws, or metal blades, but there are also minkisi representing animals and in particular dogs and janiform dogs (janicephalus = with two opposite faces) which make the link between the universe of the living and the universe of the dead

Height: 68cm - 16.53"
Width: 21cm - 4.92"
Depth: 21cm - 4.33"
Weight: 2.4 kg See less