Detail View: The AMICA Library: Power Figure
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AMICA ID:
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MMA_.1978.409
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AMICA Library Year:
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2000
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Object Type:
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Sculpture
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Creator Nationality:
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African; Central African; Congolese; Songye
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Creator Name-CRT:
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Songye peoples
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Title:
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Power Figure
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View:
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Side View
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Creation Date:
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19th-20th century
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Creation Start Date:
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1800
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Creation End Date:
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1999
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Materials and Techniques:
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Wood, copper, brass, iron, fiber, snakeskin, leather, fur, feathers, earth, resin
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Dimensions:
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H. 39 in. (99.1 cm)
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AMICA Contributor:
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Owner Location:
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New York, New York, USA
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ID Number:
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1978.409
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Credit Line:
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Purchase, Mrs. Charles Engelhard and Mary R. Morgan Gifts and Rogers Fund, 1978
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Rights:
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http://www.metmuseum.org/ [ http://www.metmuseum.org/ ]
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Context:
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A Songye 'nganga,' or religious specialist, has endowed this carved figure with spiritual powers by inserting symbolic substances-animal, vegetable, and mineral-into its head, abdomen, and shoulders, and by attaching bundles of similar ingredients to its chest, neck, and feet. Offerings to ancestral spirits who bestow fertility and provide protection against disease and misfortune are still visible in the sculpture's mouth. A power figure of this size is owned communally by the members of a Songye village, who consult it regularly at public ceremonies.
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Related Image Identifier Link:
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MMA_.ao1978.409.AV1.tif
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