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LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseContainer for nkisi force
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London
Container for nkisi force
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London
Container for nkisi force
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London
Carved wooden statue, male, large rectangular projection
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Carved wooden statue, male, large rectangular projection
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
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.
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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
