About the Artwork
The protruding forehead, flat nose, and open rectangular mouth of this figure’s face identifies it as a Songye work. Although it has lost most of its original accouterments, it is still a nkisi, a “container” or repository for powerful medicine designed to serve a specific purpose. It probably once sported elements such as raffia fiber cloth and graveyard dirt and beads to infuse it with ancestral powers. Its remaining animal furs and horns, visible around the waist and head, would have endowed it with the traits of those creatures. Assorted charms in the mouth and navel would have enhanced its protective capabilities. Considering its monumentality, it was probably used communally, witnessing conflict resolutions, agreements, and healing rituals and launching spiritual attacks against adversaries. The pair of holes on the outer sides of the thighs were for iron brackets to safely transport it without directly touching it, suggesting it was once a highly charged ritual object.
Standing Male Figure
no date
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African
Songye
Wood, fiber, and hair
Overall (figure): 54 5/8 × 11 3/4 × 11 1/4 inches (138.7 × 29.8 × 28.6 cm) Including base: 56 1/8 × 13 1/2 × 11 3/4 inches (142.6 × 34.3 × 29.8 cm)
Sculpture
African Art
Founders Society Purchase, Eleanor Clay Ford Fund for African Art, New Endowment Fund, Friends of African and African American Art Fund, Ralph Harman Booth Bequest Fund, funds from L. & R. Entwistle and Company, Dennis and Leslie Rogers, Matilda Wilson Fund, Abraham Borman Family Fund, Mary Martin Semmes Fund
1995.69.A
Copyright not assessed, please contact rightsrepo@dia.org.
Markings
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Provenance
(Tambaran Gallery, New York, New York, USA)
1995-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Songye, African, Standing Male Figure, no date, wood, fiber, and hair. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Eleanor Clay Ford Fund for African Art, New Endowment Fund, et al., 1995.69.A.
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