![](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/357/329/large_thumbnail_2018_0514__0001_.jpg)
Wooden figure used as container for nkisi force
- maker:
- Bakongo people
![Container for nkisi force](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/323/115/small_thumbnail_a655906__0004_.jpg)
![Container for nkisi force](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/323/117/small_thumbnail_a655906__0005_.jpg)
![Container for nkisi force](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/323/116/small_thumbnail_a655906__0003_.jpg)
![Carved wooden statue, male, large rectangular projection](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/2/754/small_thumbnail_a655906__0001_.jpg)
![Carved wooden statue, male, large rectangular projection](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/2/755/small_thumbnail_a655906__0002_.jpg)
Container for nkisi force, carved wooden statue with upraised arm, BaKongo people, west-central Africa, 1890-1910
A carved wooden figure with an upraised arm, used as a container for the nkisi force. In BaKongo belief, an ancestor or spirit is named as the nkisi force and harnessed in a container for use in healing. The threatening look of this figure shows the power of the nkisi – to seek out the cause of illness, fight it and protect from future harm. The figures become active when bilongo (medicines) are added and the ancestor or spirit enters the container.
Look closer
Nkisi force figureDetails
- Category:
- Ethnography and Folk Medicine
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A655906
- Materials:
- wood, glass, mirror and resin, conoretion
- Measurements:
-
overall: 390 mm x 140 mm x 94 mm, 1.442 kg
- type:
- statue
- credit:
- Loan, Wellcome Trust