Nkisi (power figure),

early 20th century

Powerful objects that heal and protect, minkisi (sing. nkisi) were commissioned and used by a nganga, a ritual specialist who served Kongo communities through physical and spiritual intervention. The nganga inserted and applied vegetal, mineral, human, or animal substances called bilongo into the nkisi figure to activate and empower it to fulfill the needs of clients. The circumstances under which this nkisi was removed from its context of use are unknown. After 1966, the nkisi’s first known European owner was Klaus Clausmeyer, a German painter and a collector of the arts of Africa, Asia, and Oceania; it subsequently passed through multiple collections in Europe and the United States. The history of this work, from its carving to its empowerment and ritual use to its circulation in the international art market, is an area of ongoing research, part of a broader Museum effort to document and examine the histories and ethics of collecting.