Old and interesting carved wooden magic fetish or power idol with medicine horn intact, ribbed neck, reptile skin regalia, adorned with metal studs and eroded away from below the arms. The Songye people called upon supernatural forces which they believed could be contacted and manipulated in their favor through power sculptures known as Nkisi. The Songye regarded the wood figure as merely a shell, activated to full power only by the addition of bishimba, the sacred medicine composed of animal, plant, and mineral substances chosen for their magical properties. Songye peoples, DRC/ Congo, central Africa. The idol measures 10.25 inches tall , 13 inches tall on professional custom display stand. Ex Millon Auctions, Paris, France.

Fair, eroded from the wait down, what remains is stable.