Seated Figure with Hand to Chin (Nkisi)

The figure sits with its elbow on its knee and its hand supporting the chin. In Kongo art this is a gesture of grief and reflection; on memorial figures it has been read as the ‘mourning for those left behind’ felt by a deceased leader. Here the gesture is joined to a ritual charge. The glass eyes link the figure to the ancestral world, and the aperture at the crown was a receptacle for bilongo. Red streaks on the face and limbs refer to tukula, and the brass cuff on the wrist marks status.

The dense charge on the back — cloth, cord and vine bound with copper wire and set with pod-like and horn-like elements — records the invocations of the figure’s working life. The clawed element at the base refers to animal power.

A compact, tightly composed crouching form. The arm forms a strong diagonal from knee to chin and gives the figure an inward, contemplative presence. The polished, near-black head and the finely carved face, with defined lids, a crisp nose and parted lips, contrast with the rich mass of bound and knotted materials on the back, warmed by the copper wire. The stepped plinth gives a stable presence from every angle.