{"id":1854,"title":"Power figure","medium":"Wood, natural fibers, glass, metal, undetermined materials","classification":"Ceremonial Objects, Sculpture","dimension":"15 3/4 x 9 3/4 x 7 1/4 in. (40.0 x 24.8 x 18.4 cm)","object_name":"Figure, Nail Fetish, N'kisi N'konde","continent":"Africa","country":"Democratic Republic of the Congo","nationality":"African","culture":"Kongo","dated":"early 20th century","room":"G250","list":"african-art-highlights","role":"Artist","text":"It looks like a man being punished or tortured. But to its Kongo makers and users, this figure was a container, empowered by a ritual specialist to house a specific spirit. The figure was consulted like a traditional chief to settle disputes and arrive at binding decisions. Each nail and blade, driven in to energize its powers, represents an issue resolved by its ritual authority.","creditline":"The Christina N. and Swan J. Turnblad Memorial Fund","accession_number":"71.3","artist":"Kongo artist","life_date":"Middle Africa","department":"Arts of Global Africa","rights_type":"Public Domain","image_width":4239,"image_height":5959,"recent":0,"see_also":[],"sort_number":"71     3","image":"valid","public_access":1,"curator_approved":1,"highlights":0,"Cache_Location":"001000\\800\\50\\1854","Primary_RenditionNumber":"mia_4002302.jpg","Rights_Image_Display":"Full","TitleAlt":"Nkisi Nkonde (nail fetish)","list:african-art-highlights":true,"related:audio-stops":[{"title":"Kongo, Nkisi Nkondi","_id":"1854","objectId":"1854","link":"http://audio-tours.s3.amazonaws.com/p437.mp3","number":"437","type":"audio"}],"related:artstories":[{"title":"Power Figure","_id":"1854","objectId":"1854","description":"<p>A ritual specialist created this <em>nkisi</em> figure to consult the spirit world on behalf of those who came to the figure for help. The <em>nkisi</em> served as a modern-day mediator or attorney, maintaining order, enforcing agreements, and calling out wrongdoers. But instead of a briefcase and cell-phone, its tools of the trade were the nails, mirrors, beads, shells, teeth, metal hooks, string, cloth bundles, and other things stuck to it, which defined its powers and behavior. Dirt from a graveyard, sealed into a cavity in its stomach, gave it the spiritual charge to do its work.</p>","link":"http://artstories.artsmia.org/#/o/1854","type":"artstory"}],"mtime":"2026-02-04T06:00:50.797Z"}