SONGYE

NKISHI POWER FIGURE

This powerful Nkisi figure belongs to the narrowly defined group of Songye works referred to in scholarship as the Atelier de Lusangay. The term does not denote a workshop in the European sense, but rather a stylistically coherent group of exceptionally homogeneous power figures, very likely originating from one or a small number of closely related masters active in the Lomami / Kasongo region.

Characteristic features of this group—expressed with particular clarity in the present example—include the mask-like, closed facial structure with a pronounced vertical axis, almond-shaped eyes fitted with light inlays (cowrie shells), regularly applied copper and brass tacks, and an open mouth with plastically carved lips. The hands rest on the abdomen, the central ritual power zone of the Nkisi. The combination of strict wooden volume and dense ritual assemblage lends these Songye figures a distinctive and unmistakable formal presence.

The surface displays a deeply darkened, layered patina with clear traces of intensive ritual use. Textiles, cords, leather, and bound materials envelop the lower part of the figure, concealing additional magical substances. The reverse documents the functional construction of an actively used Nkisi and shows no evidence of later reshaping or restorative intervention.

The dating to around 1900 (± 20 years) is supported by stylistic criteria as well as by the condition of the surface and ritual materials. The copper and brass tacks are to be understood as secondary ritual activations, widely documented among Songye Nkisi in connection with historical crisis periods—most notably the smallpox epidemics of the 1920s and early 1930s. They do not indicate a late date of carving, but rather a prolonged history of ritual use.

The provenance is fully documented and closely linked to the history of our gallery: acquired in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1956 by Lore Kegel, transferred to Prof. Caspers in 1957, repurchased in 1994 and sold the same year to a private collection in Braunschweig. In 2023 the figure was re-reacquired from the heirs of that collection.

During the exhibition Sacri spiriti. Songye (Naples, 2022–2023), the largest and most comprehensive exhibition devoted to Songye art to date, nearly all known and museum-documented works attributed to the Atelier de Lusangay were represented. The present object is among the few exceptions, without this affecting its art-historical standing within this narrowly defined group.

With its early dating, secure provenance, and clear stylistic anchoring, this figure ranks among the substantial and collection-worthy works of the Atelier de Lusangay and among the significant testimonies of Songye culture as a whole.

Songye Power Figure Nkishi, 1900 (± 20 years)
Democratic Rep. of the Congo
Wood, cowrie, copper, brass, fibre, beads, skin | 69 cm

PROVENANCE
Lore Kegel, DRC 1956 | Prof. Caspers, Hamburg 1957 | Boris Kegel-Konietzko, Hamburg 1994 | Dieter Blume, Braunschweig 1994 | Alexander Dorn, Hamburg 2023

LAST MARKET APPEARANCE: 1994
PRICE ON REQUEST