Nkisi

Minkisi heal, protect, divine, settle disputes and punish wrongdoing. Many are not figurative at all: gourds, animal horns, shells, clay pots and bundles of cloth could all serve as containers. The works best known in Western collections, and the subject of this group, are the carved wooden figures in human or animal form. On these the charge is usually placed in the belly, the head or the back, and is often sealed with resin and a mirror or a piece of glass.

Types of nkisi

Kongo thought divides minkisi broadly into those of ‘the above’, linked with the sky, rain and thunder and with violence, justice and the sealing of oaths, and those of ‘the below’, linked with the earth and inland waters. The principal figurative types are:

• Nkisi nkondi. The name comes from the verb -konda, ‘to hunt’. The nkondi is a hunter that tracks down and punishes witches, thieves, oath-breakers and other wrongdoers. It was also used to witness agreements and settle disputes. Nails and blades were driven into the figure to wake the spirit and send it to its task; each one records an oath, a dispute or a request. Most of the works in this group belong to this type.
• Mangaaka. The grandest and most powerful nkondi. About fifteen are known, all made in the Chiloango River region of the Loango coast in the second half of the 19th century. Standing about 106–132 cm high, they lean forward with their hands on their hips and wear the mpu cap of chiefs. They served whole communities and were associated with the law.
• Nkisi kozo. A figure in the form of a dog, often with two heads. The dog lives in the village but hunts in the forest, so it was believed to move between the world of the living and the land of the dead; two heads allowed it to watch both. Kozo belongs to the aggressive class of minkisi and was said to help the nkondi in its hunt.
• Nkisi nduda and other protective figures. Smaller figures, often wrapped in cloth and fibre and crowned with feathers, quills or a horn, used for protection and divination. Among the Yombe, nkisi nduda were consulted in divination, including before battle.
• Personal minkisi. Small figures, horns and bundles kept by individuals and families for healing, protection and success in hunting, trade or childbirth.

The Songye of east-central DR Congo make their own power figures, called nkishi (plural mankishi). They share the idea of a carved figure charged with sacred substances but differ in style: the faces are angular and often set with brass tacks and metal strips, and a horn is usually set into the crown. A few works in this group show features that recall Songye practice, and this is noted in the entries.

Origins and history

The Kongo peoples have lived for centuries on both banks of the lower Congo River and along the Atlantic coast. The Kingdom of Kongo was founded in the 14th century. The Portuguese arrived in 1483, the king was baptised in 1491, and Christianity became part of court life. A Kikongo catechism of 1624 used a word related to nkisi to translate ‘holy’, and a Dutch description of Africa published in 1668 described minkisi as both objects and the spirits within them.

Nail figures appear later and are absent from the early missionary accounts. A nailed figure was collected in 1864 by a British naval officer on the Solongo coast of northern Angola, and the German Loango Expedition of 1873–76 found the practice well established. The classic nail figures were made mainly in the northern Kongo region — the Loango coast, the Mayombe forest and the Chiloango River valley — among the Vili, Yombe and Woyo, from the mid-19th to the early 20th century. This period, roughly 1850–1930, is often called the golden age of Kongo power-figure carving. Some scholars have linked the nails to Christian images of the Crucifixion or of Saint Sebastian; others, notably Wyatt MacGaffey, see the practice as rooted in older Kongo ideas of hammering, binding and awakening.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, missionaries and colonial officials confiscated or destroyed many minkisi, and traders collected others for European museums, where they later caught the attention of modern artists. Carving continued through the 20th century, and many figures in collections today belong to this later phase, keeping the forms of the classic tradition.

Reading an nkisi

The same visual language recurs throughout these figures:

• Raised arm. The hand once held a spear or knife: the nkondi is ready to strike.
• Hand on the hip. The composed stance of a chief or judge.
• Cap (mpu). The cap of chiefs and ritual specialists, a sign of authority.
• Glass eyes and mirrors. Second sight. The land of the dead was believed to lie beneath water, and reflective surfaces allowed the nkisi to see into it and detect hidden enemies.
• White clay (mpemba). Kaolin, the colour of the dead and of the spirit world.
• Red (tukula). Camwood powder, linked with power and with passage between worlds.
• Nails and blades. Each records an oath, an agreement, a dispute or a request. The parties often licked the nail before it was driven in, to seal the matter.
• Cords, knots and cloth. Tying (kanga) binds the spirit to its task; cloth was also an offering.
• Open mouth. The voice of the spirit; the mouth could also be ‘fed’ with substances.