The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 13, 2024

Figurine

Figurine

late 1800s–early 1900s
Wood, organic materials (including resin), cloth, metalized glass, possibly porcelain, and plant fiber
Overall: 23 x 9 x 11 cm (9 1/16 x 3 9/16 x 4 5/16 in.)
René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 2010.441
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The object’s two small guns are pointing upward, but bears the label “colique,” a term referring to heavy pains caused by intestinal obstruction.

Description

This figure is one of the two tallest of the seven anthropomorphic minkisi figurines previously in the Delenne collection. Identified as an nduda, two upward “guns” are attached on its side loaded with gunpowder used to shoot witches. Its label bears the word colique, a term referring to heavy pains caused by intestinal obstruction.
  • ?-1961
    (Unidentified art dealer, Nice, FR, 1961, sold to René and Odette Delenne)
    1961-2010
    René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2010
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2010
  • Petridis, Constantine, et al. Fragments of the Invisible: The René and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2013, 54-58. Mentioned: pp. 54, 56, 113; reproduced: p. 58-59, cat. 18
  • Fragments of the Invisible: The René and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014).
  • {{cite web|title=Figurine|url=false|author=|year=late 1800s–early 1900s|access-date=13 September 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2010.441