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a close up of a statue of a person holding a clocka wooden statue of a man with a hat on his headan image of a wooden statue of a man holding a lampa wooden statue of a man with a helmet on his headan old wooden statue of a man with a hat on his headan image of a wooden sculpture of a woman with a red headbandan image of a wooden statue of a man holding a lampa statue of a man holding a baby in his arms
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Estimate €800 - €1,000
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Description
NKISI Yombe (Kongo) nkisi statuette. 20th century. Height: 48 cm. Heavy, light-brown wood, rope, fabric, cowrie shell. A cowrie shell (Monetaria moneta) adorns the headdress, which is held in place by a red cloth headband. A cord passed around the neck, across the torso and down the back secures a sort of scarf encircling the neck. Wooden ridges on the tops of each foot, on each shoulder and across the lower back serve to secure a magical burden. The glass eyes and the mirror on the abdomen endow the fetish with the power of vision into the afterlife. The hands support the mirror on the abdomen, the seat of fertility. Provenance: Pierre Redouin Collection. Description: This statuette combines the classic attributes found throughout the Congo Basin. The cowrie shell (Monetaria moneta) on the head is not merely an ancient form of currency; it symbolises the eye, sight and, by extension, divination. Fixed to the top of the skull, it represents the ‘third eye’ or the seat of spiritual vision. It indicates that the statuette is capable of ‘seeing’ into the invisible world to detect the causes of misfortune or illness. The mirror represents the surface of the water, which forms the barrier between the world of the living and that of the ancestors (the underworld or underwater realm). It serves to ward off evil. By carrying a mirror, the statuette acts as a spiritual shield: it captures the gaze of sorcerers or malevolent spirits and reflects their own image back at them, thereby neutralising them. Held in the arms of a statue, it enables the diviner to ‘read’ the truth hidden behind appearances. The shell crowning the mirror reinforces its symbolism. In local belief, water is the dwelling place of the spirits of the earth and the ancestors. Placed at the top of the mirror, it crowns the object as a source of life and fertility. It links the statue’s power to the authority of the primordial ancestors who come from ‘the other shore’. The addition of these attributes makes this work an object of active mediation. It is ‘charged’ to act. The statue becomes a channel. It expresses the chief’s or seer’s ability to navigate between the visible and the invisible in order to protect their community.
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About the sale The Breath of the Spirits: The Collection of Pierre Redouin and Others
Auction location
Auction time 09/24/2026 at 2:30 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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