Oath-taking figure, Bakongo/Vili; D.R.C. Congo
Wood, iron, glass, sacrificial and ritual materials;
L. 20 1/4"
This charm figure, nkisi nkondi,
is of a particular variety and is empowered by an
initiated ritual expert, known as an Nganga,
and often made to deal with specific types of
problems. Inserted nails and blades indicate an
oath undertaken or an appeal to the figure's power,
each nail bearing witness to a bitter grievance
brought before the charm. Figures such as this one,
in the form of a two-headed dog, are known as kozo,
metaphorically referring to a hunting dog moving
between the worlds of the visible and invisible
and hunting down those with evil intent. Such charms
would be accompanied by other containers filled
with belongo or activating materials. Nkisi
nkondi were used in a context that included
drumming, song, and dance that dramatized the occasion.
The varying sizes of the nails on this image, and
the fact that many of them appear to have been hand-forged
or re-straightened European nails, attest to a long
period of traditional usage. The empowering material,
still contained beneath a piece of old glass, is
deliberately located at the center of the figure's
back, a place of mediation between the dangerous
heads and the focal point of the carving. Interestingly,
a heavy iron ring is firmly secured around one of
the muzzles of the image, perhaps to keep an over-active
(and potentially dangerous) spirit under control.
