{"secondaryobjectnumber":"","periodterms":[],"creditline":"Museum acquisition from the Holly and David Ross Collection","caption":"Artist and nganga unrecorded, Kongo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa, Nkisi (power figure), early 20th century. Wood, mirror, glass beads, glass, cotton, silk, metal, gourd, resin, paint, plant fiber, and kaolin; 36.2 × 7.6 × 8.9 cm. Museum acquisition from the Holly and David Ross Collection (2017-157)","cultureterms":[{"id":2041478,"culture":"African"},{"id":2042738,"culture":"Kongo"}],"type":"artobject","dimensionsproposed":"","terms":[{"id":2054791,"term":"sculpture","aatid":300047090,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2048754,"term":"ceremonial objects","aatid":300234117,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2055416,"term":"statues","aatid":300047600,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2188582,"term":"spirits (beings)","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2135524,"term":"rituals (events)","aatid":300065284,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2041478,"term":"African","aatid":300015647,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2088270,"term":"men","aatid":300025928,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2042738,"term":"Kongo","aatid":300016229,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2055657,"term":"figures (representations)","aatid":300189808,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2043760,"term":"string (fiber product)","aatid":300014249,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2156347,"term":"carving","aatid":300053149,"termtype":"Techniques"},{"id":2151569,"term":"painting (coating)","aatid":300161986,"termtype":"Techniques"},{"id":2161775,"term":"metal","aatid":300010900,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2044421,"term":"cotton (textile)","aatid":300014067,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2048485,"term":"beads","aatid":300234006,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2044466,"term":"silk (textile)","aatid":300243428,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2044505,"term":"cloth","aatid":300162391,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2045706,"term":"gourd","aatid":300011870,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2165868,"term":"resin","aatid":300012882,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2160373,"term":"kaolin","aatid":300010445,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2043593,"term":"plant fiber","aatid":300014031,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2045920,"term":"wood","aatid":300011914,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2161148,"term":"glass","aatid":300010797,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2167740,"term":"paint","aatid":300015029,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2072114,"term":"mirrors","aatid":300037682,"termtype":"Materials"}],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo","code":"Place made","continent":"Africa","subcontinent":"Central Africa","country":"Democratic Republic of the Congo","region":null,"state":null,"city":null,"county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/203312/democratic-republic-of-the-congo.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"Overall","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"36.19"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"7.61"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Depth","units":"centimeters","dimension":"8.88"}],"markings":null,"accessionyear":"2017-01-01","newaccession":0,"makers":[{"id":23718,"displayname":"Artist and nganga unrecorded","displaydate":null,"datebegin":0,"dateend":0,"prefix":null,"suffix":null,"role":"Artist","displaymaker":"Artist and nganga unrecorded","displayorder":1}],"datecomputed":1914,"signed":null,"restrictions":null,"classification":"Sculpture","packages":[{"packageid":208216,"name":"Gallery_06-Orientation"},{"packageid":190575,"name":"web_docent_10_08_2020"},{"packageid":195745,"name":"PUAM_World Cultures"},{"packageid":231468,"name":"2023_FRS121_12_ 06"},{"packageid":278831,"name":"10282025-DAY1-ONVIEW"},{"packageid":197222,"name":"PUAM_Curate Your Own Exibition"},{"packageid":208348,"name":"Z_Orientation Gallery Render List"},{"packageid":204035,"name":"Teaching Kit Reproductions 8 1/2 x 11"},{"packageid":142974,"name":"web_african_holding_culture"},{"packageid":207234,"name":"SAB_Gala2021"},{"packageid":193176,"name":"PUAM_Expressing Culture_African"},{"packageid":220002,"name":"2022_FRS121_11_30"}],"catalograisonne":null,"classifications":[{"id":2054791,"classification":"sculpture"},{"id":2055416,"classification":"statues"},{"id":2048754,"classification":"ceremonial objects"}],"exhibitions":[{"exhibitionid":3260,"citation":"The Art of Tribes and Early Kingdoms: Selections from Chicago Collections (January 12– March 4, 1983)","isvirtual":true,"begindate":"1983-01-12","enddate":"1983-03-04","uri":"https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/exhibitions/3260"}],"cultures":[{"id":15384,"culture":"Kongo","alphasort":"Kongo","begindate":0,"enddate":0,"displayculture":"Kongo","displaydate":null}],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2015_9283"],"displaytitle":"Nkisi (power figure)","displayculture":"Kongo","displaymaker":"Artist and nganga unrecorded","captionhtml":"Artist and nganga unrecorded, Kongo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa, <i>Nkisi (power figure)</i>, early 20th century. Wood, mirror, glass beads, glass, cotton, silk, metal, gourd, resin, paint, plant fiber, and kaolin; 36.2 × 7.6 × 8.9 cm. Museum acquisition from the Holly and David Ross Collection (2017-157)","displaydate":"early 20th century","medium":"Wood, mirror, glass beads, glass, cotton, silk, metal, gourd, resin, paint, plant fiber, and kaolin","media":[{"id":158498,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV75389","isprimary":0,"rank":11,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Project"},{"id":158499,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV75390","isprimary":0,"rank":9,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Project"},{"id":158500,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV75391","isprimary":0,"rank":10,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Project"},{"id":158501,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV75392","isprimary":0,"rank":12,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Project"},{"id":192927,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2015_9283","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM photo"},{"id":192928,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2015_9277","isprimary":0,"rank":2,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM photo"},{"id":192929,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2015_9281","isprimary":0,"rank":3,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM photo"}],"displayperiod":null,"extended_content":true,"campuscollections":"false","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"Klaus Volprecht, <EM>Sammlung Clausmeyer, Afrika</EM> (Cologne, Germany: Brill, 1972)","citation":"Klaus Volprecht, <EM>Sammlung Clausmeyer, Afrika</EM> (Cologne, Germany: Brill, 1972), p. 122, entry 267, museum no. 48931","date":1972,"id":7463,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/246806691"},{"boilertext":"Richard Fraser Townsend, <em>The Art of tribes and early kingdoms: selections from Chicago collections</em> (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1984)","citation":"Richard Fraser Townsend, <em>The Art of tribes and early kingdoms: selections from Chicago collections</em> (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1984), p. 65, pl. 99","date":1984,"id":7464,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/461914146"},{"boilertext":"Warren M. Robbins and Nancy Ingram Nooter, <EM>African art in American collections, survey 1989</EM> (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989)","citation":"Warren M. Robbins and Nancy Ingram Nooter, <EM>African art in American collections, survey 1989</EM> (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989), p. 363, pl. 945","date":1989,"id":7465,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/19395328"},{"boilertext":"Raoul Lehuard, <EM>Art Bakongo: les centres de style</EM> (Arnouville, France: Arts d'Afrique Noire, 1989-1993)","citation":"Raoul Lehuard, <EM>Art Bakongo: les centres de style</EM> (Arnouville, France: Arts d'Afrique Noire, 1989-1993), p. 549, pl. J 19-1-6","date":1989,"id":7467,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/187463121"}],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[],"department":"African and Oceanic Art","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199315,"term":"African Art","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"daterange":"A.D. 1900-1945","dateend":1929,"depicted":[],"titles":[{"title":"Nkisi (power figure)","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":null,"objectnumber":"2017-157","inscribed":null,"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"Powerful objects that heal and protect, <i>minkisi </i>(sing. <i>nkisi</i>) were commissioned and used by a <i>nganga</i>, a ritual specialist who served Kongo communities through physical and spiritual intervention. The nganga inserted and applied vegetal, mineral, human, or animal substances called <i>bilongo </i>into the <i>nkisi </i>figure to activate and empower it to fulfill the needs of clients. The circumstances under which this <i>nkisi </i>was removed from its context of use are unknown. After 1966, the <i>nkisi’s </i>first known European owner was Klaus Clausmeyer, a German painter and a collector of the arts of Africa, Asia, and Oceania; it subsequently passed through multiple collections in Europe and the United States. The history of this work, from its carving to its empowerment and ritual use to its circulation in the international art market, is an area of ongoing research, part of a broader Museum effort to document and examine the histories and ethics of collecting.\n","remarks":"ORI_06_CLA.pdf - Day 1 installation"},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Provenance","textentryhtml":"Klaus Clausmeyer (1887-1968), Düsseldorf, Germany; Sammlung Clausmeyer at the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Cologne, Germany, 1966 until at least 1972; Wayne Heathcote and Loed van Bussel, Belgium, before 1980; [Michael Oliver, New York, NY by 1980]; Holly and David Ross, Princeton, NJ, 1980; purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ, 2017.","remarks":"Revised by Perrin Lathrop, 4/4/25"}],"datebegin":1900,"sortnumber":"2017  157","published_date":"2026-02-11 12:31:31.498527","objectid":61099,"dimensions":"36.2 × 7.6 × 8.9 cm (14 1/4 × 3 × 3 1/2 in.)","on_view":true}