Power figure

A powerful female figure in an act of supplication. Her medicine (bilongo) is on her chest. From the base of her back snakes rise and protrude over her shoulders. Here, ancestors armed with flintlock guns stand upon them. Her left arm cradles an ancestor. Her right hand holds a bottle of alcohol for libations.
A similar carving found at the Collection Nationaal Museum van Vereldmuseum, Netherlands, suggests that the woman’s interactions are that of a priestess engaged with the forces from the world of the dead (Mpemba). It is said that this nkisi-type was used to treat physical dysfunction and to enhance one’s social standing.
It is possible that this figure was commissioned by Dennett to improve his own position with the Lemba trading guild through participating in a ritually sanctified alliance.

Minkisi (sing. nkisi)
When Europeans first encountered power figures (minkisi) in the Congo, they believed them to be man-made deities (‘fetishes’) that were worshipped. However, minkisi belonged to an age-old complex cosmology, one that was centred on a reciprocating universe. This meant that there existed a constant interchange between the visible ‘world of the living’ and the invisible ‘world of the dead’. Minkisi created a physical connection between these worlds.
Their potency included ‘medicinal’ substances (bilongo) that would help to bind the powers of the invisible world to the figure. Bilongo included ingredients associated with the specific ability of the figure. They could be used to heal, alleviate hardship, locate witches or bring harm – they were mainly created for the benefit of people.
Minkisi were activated by a specialist called an nganga. Power figures were constructed with great care to produce a visual effect, they were viewed as items of great power. When not in use they were stored in the nganga’s hut.