A superb Yombe power figure

nkisi, standing on a square base with notched corners, the naturalistic feet beneath the thick legs supporting the pitched-forward torso, the truncated arms framing the protruding rectangular magical charge with a mirror affixed with black resin, the neck encircled by beads and supporting the large head with jutting jaw and full outlined lips baring filed teeth, the glass eyes with heavy lids framed by the high cheekbones and swirling ears with earrings and wearing a resinous cap-like bundle at the crown; '194' in red and black pigment on the underside of the base; fine aged and varied reddish brown patina.

Acquired from Maurice Ratton, Paris, April 14, 1966

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Milwaukee Public Museum, Selections from The William W. Brill Colllection of African Art, May 5 - August 31, 1969 (for additional venues see bibliography, Milwaukee 1969)

Milwaukee: 29, figure 44
Lehuard 1978: 19
Lehuard 1989, Volume II: 525, figure J 12-1-3

The pitched-forward chest and jaw, defiant stance and incredible strength depicted in the aristocratic facial  stylistically place the Brill power figure in the Yombe area of the Bakongo peoples, who live on both sides of the Zaire River in Angola, Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The figure's stance and magical attachments identify the figure as nkisi. MacGaffey (in Tervuren 1995: 285) explains the integration of sculptures into Yombe life: 'In Kongo thought an nkisi is a personalized force from the invisible land of the dead which has chosen, or been induced, to submit itself to some degree of human control through performances. The ritual, which may take from a few minutes to several years to complete, usually includes songs, dances, behavioral restrictions, special enclosures and prepared spaces and a material apparatus, all more or less prescribed. The material apparatus may include musical instruments, the bodies of participants in the ritual, articles of costume, cosmetics and a focal object which is in the narrow sense the nkisi itself, the embodiment of the spiritual entity. Those who turn to an nkisi expect that it will help them in their misfortune, whether it be disease, an unsolved crime such as theft, or a death attributed to the hidden forces of witchcraft. Nkisi figures are containers for empowering 'medicines' which specify the domain in which the nkisi is competent.'