An exceptional Kongo "Nkisi Nkondi" figure" Few African sculptures are as iconic as human figures covered in hardware. Such figures,variably called “nail fetish”, “power figure”, or “nkisi nkondi”, were long considered byEuropean observers as quintessential expressions of witchcraft and superstition. They are, in fact,sophisticated medical and legal remedies of the Kongo peoples, a cluster of ethnic groups thatlive at the mouth of the Congo River in Central Africa. The Kongo made such figures to housespiritual beings that could be activated in order to intervene in human affairs. They were adjuredto heal illnesses, settle disputes, take oaths, punish wrongdoers, and protect the community.In its original setting, this sculpture functioned as the vessel for a spirit. It is called nkisi, a termthat designates both the ancestor or nature spirit that inhabited it, and the container itself. Nkisican also be translated as “sacred remedy”. A nkisi-receptacle can take a variety of forms, like abasket, a shell, or a glass bottle. A container in the shape of a human figure with pieces of iron iscalled a nkisi nkondi, “a hunter spirit-vessel”. Such a power figure used to hunt thieves,bewitchers, and people who had broken taboos or who did not keep their word. Each nail, screw,and blade driven into the wood corresponds with a specific request for action addressed to thenkisi-spirit, whose supernatural powers were invoked and stirred up. The figure now constitutes anotarial record, so to speak, documenting in iron all the pleas, agreements, oaths, curses anddemands for vengeance that it was presented with and of which it took care.Works like this resulted from the collective vision of several people rather than a single artist,and changed dramatically in appearance over time. A sculptor carved an empty figure in wood,which a ritual expert subsequently loaded with sacred medicines. These magical substances werelocated in the square box on the belly and in the charge on top of the head, both sealed in placewith resin. Spirit-embedding medicines were necessary to attract and fix a nkisi in the vessel, andoften included earth from a grave site. Once “contained”, spirit-admonishing medicines wereused to entreat the spirit in a controlled manner so that it could act for the benefit of an individualor a community. Over the course of decades, priests, healers, and users added substances to thefigure, to trigger its powers, to seal agreements, or to remind the nkisi what to do and where togo. Today, the figure is covered with shreds of cloth tied to nails or bundled into small packages,and with pierced shells, fruits, seedpods and tops of gourds attached to metal rings or hangingfrom pieces of rope. The attachments also include different kinds of glass beads, as well as smallcarved wood pieces, one of which may show a stylized face. The additions are so dense that thefigure’s left arm, with the hand resting in the hip, is no longer visible.All the body poses and attachments of a nkisi nkondi have specific meanings. The raised rightarm, which once held a knife, is at once defensive and offensive. The four fingers of the right hand, forming a circle, with the long thumb pointing upwards, refer to the earth and heaven, thussymbolizing the unbreakable bond created by the spirit when activated. The combination of onehand upraised and the other in the hip is common among persons of authority. It signifies theability to review a situation and act accordingly. The figure’s open mouth indicates, among otherthings, the need to feed the spirit in order to encourage it to perform a particular action, as wellas its eloquence in administering justice. The mirror that covers the abdominal box and the glasseyes, made from imported materials, were meant to enhance the nkisi’s clairvoyance, necessaryto perceive the human and the spirit worlds. Many attributes of a power figure make sensebecause of sound associations and word puns in the Kongo language. For instance, one of theshells attached on the front, which appears also on other nkisi nkondi, has a spiral form. Such aform is called nzinga, a word that evokes luzinga, “long life”. The various seedpods attached tothe figure have not yet been identified and we do not know their indigenous names. Yet we canassume that these names, too, reveal some desired outcome.This nineteenth-century nkisi nkondi, with its exceptionally dense and well-preservedattachments, belonged to the Belgian botanist and folklorist Jean Chalon (1846-1921). Hementioned it in a publication from 1920. The power figure has not been altered since it leftAfrica. The countless additions testify to its long-lasting success as a protective guardian andpunitive hunter."Jan-Lodewijk Grootaers45 cmProvenanceBelgian botanist and folklorist Jean Chalon (1846-1921).LiteraturePublished in CHALON, Jean. 1920." Fétiches, idoles et amulettes". S. Servais: Jean Chalon. Volume 1, p. 12(no image)LiteratureLEHUARD, Raoul. 1980. Fétiches à clous du Bas-Zaïre. Arnouville: Arts d’Afrique noire.MACGAFFEY, Wyatt. 1993. “The Eyes of Understanding: Kongo Minkisi”, pp. 18-103 inAstonishment and Power, W. MacGaffey and M. Harris. Washington and London: SmithsonianInstitution Press.THOMPSON, Robert Farris. 2002. “La gestuelle kôngo”, pp. 23-129 in Le geste kôngo, ed. C.Falgayrettes-Leveau. Paris: Éditions Dapper.
