Nkisi Reliquary Fetish From Congo

Very interesting NKISI fetish from Congo measuring 23cm high the top of the skull is covered with scorched earth (some gaps) This threatening-looking character spreads his mouth with his hands revealing his teeth. A magic charge made of earth encloses a mirror at the level of the navel a loincloth made of cords encloses his neck and waist revealing his rather light masculine wood sex. A highly shiny patina in places due to the intensive manipulation that the fetish has undergone In Kongo thought, “Nkisi” also refers to a personalized power of the invisible world which can be subjugated or controlled by means of ritual practices. The term designates, in the singular, "a force, a power in relation to the spirits of the ancestors of a family". The nkisi is a magic object sheltering an ambivalent impersonal force, capable of attacking or countering an aggressive action. These objects in the most diverse forms (statuettes, pottery, baskets, packages, etc.) contain mineral, animal or vegetable substances. The statues are used either for divination, or for protection, or for imprecation. In the latter case, a nail is driven into the statuette to excite a supernatural power which will take revenge on a designated victim. In principle, an nkisi only prosecutes culprits.