Superb Vili Male Power Figure, Democratic Republic of the Congo
nkisi
Wood, glass, pigments
Height 8 3/4in (22cm)

Provenance
Marceau Rivière Collection, Paris
Private Collection

Literature
Neyt, Francis, African Fetishes and Ancestral Objects, 5 Continents, 2014, fig. 12
Von Lintig, Bettina, African Impressions, 5 Continents, 2011, fig. 38

As noted by Neyt (Ibid.), 'The male figure is about to eat a substance that will help him see the spirits. It may be a hallucinogenic root that is traditionally chewed by the nganga, diviner or priest. He is standing, with his head raised to scrutinize the sky. His oval rimmed eyes are inlaid with glass; the black pupil is sunk into the white of the eye. The eyebrows are decorated with an incised feathery motif. A vertical white line runs down the forehead into the nose with rounded wings. The sculptor has deliberately emphasized the mouth, adding to its importance with the chewed substance and the posture of the hand and even the arms. The back is sturdy, with curved buttocks and legs. The legs give the figure a solid aspect: the snowshoe feet are planted flat on the rectangular base.

But the essential is elsewhere. The human being is the channel for forces that surpass him. Three receptacles circumscribe this magical aspect. Above the forehead marked by a raised band, a circular wooden support would have held an earthy plaster filled with magic substances. Among the Kongo, this type of receptacle is conical or spherical. An oblong orifice above the navel once contained a magic charge. The last cavity is in the back. Whatever the sculpted spirit is swallowing is perhaps part of the drive to accumulate protective (or offensive) energies which will radiate in all directions.

The workshop which produced this work is listed in R. Lehuard's study on Vili workshops (Lehuard 1989, vol.1, p.246 and vol. 2, p. 653). The figure's posture is very unusual and the work dates to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.'

Power bundles to top of head, chest and back now lost; old loss and wear to right hand at mouth; age distress line with separation to base in back; minor age distress line to left side of head; minor nicks, abrasions and wear consistent with age. Custom base.