Nkisi Nkondi, early to mid-1800s. Unknown artist (Kongo). Wood, metal, textile, leather. Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust through the George H. and Elizabeth O. Davis Fund.
An nkisi nkondi is a power figure that helps serve the needs of a community. As part of spiritual practices among the Kongo peoples, an nganga, or healer, would have placed medicine on this figure’s body to imbue it with power. The nganga would then have called upon the sculpture to perform certain tasks, such as healing individuals or providing protection against negative spirits. To end each of these transactions, the nganga would lick a nail or piece of metal and then hammer it into the sculpture. This served both as documentation of the interaction and as a way to activate the figure’s powerful medicine.
