The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Figure (Nkishi)

late 1800s–early 1900s

Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Luba-style maker

Wood, organic materials (including resin and soil), plant fiber, and glass beads
Overall: 22.4 x 10.7 x 12.4 cm (8 13/16 x 4 3/16 x 4 7/8 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alvin N. Haas 1974.212
Location: 108A African

Did You Know?

Unlike most Luba arts, this figure is not connected to the royal court.

Description

The substances contained in its cloth-covered cranial cavity indicate that this half-figure belongs to the broad category of charms or “power objects” that the Luba call mankishi. It was used by a ritual expert and functioned in a variety of rituals dealing with healing, protection, divination, or jurisdiction. Often such power figures were carved by the ritual experts rather than by professional artists.
  • Loed van Bussel, The Hague, the Netherlands
    ?–1974
    Mr. and Mrs. Alvin N. Haas, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1974–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1974." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 62, no. 3 (1975): 62-102. p. 97, cat. no. 16, repr. p. 96 www.jstor.org
    Petridis, Constantin. Art et Pouvoir dans la Savane d'Afrique Centrale (Bruxelles: Fonds Mercator, 2008), p. 50, fig. 29.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. 1974 Year in Review. Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 62, no. 3, cat. 16.
    Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. Reproduced: cat. 33, p. 96 - 97
    Petridis, Constantine. "Art and Power." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 49, no. 2 (February 2009): 3-4. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 4 archive.org
  • Art and Power in the Central African Savanna. Menil Collection, Houston, TX (September 26, 2008-January 4, 2009); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 31, 2009).
    Year in Review: 1974. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 11-April 6, 1975).
  • {{cite web|title=Figure (Nkishi)|url=false|author=|year=late 1800s–early 1900s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1974.212