Cantor Arts Center

Sculpture_Browse the collection

Showing 5 of 11

Download Image

Standing Figure with Mirror ("Nkisi")

19th century
19th C.
Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
11 in. x 4 3/4 in. x 3 3/4 in. (27.94 cm x 12.07 cm x 9.53 cm)

By (primary)
Artist unknown

Culture/People: Kongo peoples

Medium: Wood, mirror, kaolin, resin and organic ritual material

Credit Line: Anonymous gift

Accession Number: 1988.181

Provenance

Harry A. Franklin, Beverly Hills (sale, Beverly Hills, 1966); private collection, San Francisco, CA

Bibliography

Liisa H. Malkki, “The Need to Help: The Domestic Arts of International Humanitarianism” (Duke University Press, 2015). Fig. 4.6, pg. 128, repr.

Keywords Click a term to view the records with the same keyword

Kongo

Kongo kingdom
LCSH Link

Bakongo
Use For Term

traditional medicine
Used in the West for sets of health beliefs and practices that developed within the culture of a particular ethnic or geographic group of people, distinct from modern Western medicine; commonly includes herbal and homeopathic remedies, religious or spiritual ritual, and an holistic approach to patients. [February 1996 descriptor added.]

indigenous medicine
Use For Term

ethnomedicine
Use For Term

folk medicine
LCSH Link

healing, traditional
Use For Term

folk-medicine
Use For Term

medicine, traditional
Use For Term

ethnic medicine
Use For Term

healers
Related Term

traditional healing
Use For Term

medicine, ethnic
Use For Term

medicine, folk
Use For Term

medicine, indigenous
Use For Term

rituals (events)
Practices or patterns of behavior regularly performed in a set, precise manner, for either personal or public purposes. [March 1993 descriptor changed, was 'rituals'; alternate term changed, was 'ritual'; scope note changed.]

ritual
LCSH Link

ritual (event)
Alternate Term

minkisi
Sculpture used to contain potent medicines that are associated with spiritual or healing power, often taking the form of carved wooden figures or assemblages of objects, such as bundles, shells, pots, and amulets. Originating in the Congo region of Africa, their use in divination, protection, and healing rites has been carried to Cuba, Haiti, Brazil, and the American South. [August 1998 descriptor moved. January 1998 descriptor added.]

nkisi
Alternate Term

figures (representations)
Representations of humans or animals. [July 1998 related term added, "statues". December 1997 related term added.]

manikins
Related Term

clipei (portraits)
Related Term

figure (representation)
Alternate Term

statues
Related Term

Additional Images Click an image to view a larger version

Download

Portfolio List Click a portfolio name to view all the objects in that portfolio

This object is a member of the following portfolios:

African Art

Sculpture_Browse the collection

Your current search criteria is: Portfolio is "Sculpture_Browse the collection" and [Object]Country is "Democratic Republic of the Congo" and [Object]Century is "19th C.".

View current selection of records as:

CDWA Lite XML LIDO XML VRA Core 4 MODS XML Objects JSON

Last updated: 04/21/2021

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced.

The Cantor Arts Center encourages the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. Some images may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights.

To purchase a high-resolution digital image for publication, request a high-resolution digital image for study, or request permission to use an image from our website of works in the Cantor Arts Center’s collection, please contact cantor_rightsandrepro@stanford.edu

Sculpture_Browse the collection

by Object Type

Standing Figure with Mirror ("Nkisi")

Open and free for everyone.

Quick Links

Campus Partners