Description: Nkondi Nkisi dog (Kozo) fetish figure in upright aggressive stance. Fetish has various nails, bones, wrapping and sacrament material covering surfaces. Figure also has painted face and eyes. Fair, tribal used condition. Fetish is 18.5” x 10 x 12 Private collection. About Kozo Kongo carvers produced wooden carvings (minkisi, singular: nkisi) in human form, which were used in rituals to solve problems or to gain wealth, and also in the form of animals, particularly the double-headed dog Kozo. Among the Congo wild animals are associated with the dead, who are buried away from villages, either in the forests or across rivers. Domesticated animals such as dogs live in villages but are used to hunt game in the forests. They are, therefore, considered as mediators between the worlds of the living and the dead. Kozo's two heads and four eyes make him particularly potent in this role. Powerful medicines bound with resin or clay, a substance particularly associated with the dead, are placed on the animal's back; these empower the figure to act on behalf of the nganga or ritual specialist. To instruct the nkisi in a particular task, the nganga would drive an iron blade into the figure, with an accompanying invocation. ---from the British Museum
Price: 225 USD
Location: Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
End Time: 2024-11-28T14:00:23.000Z
Shipping Cost: N/A USD
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Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 14 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Country/Region of Manufacture: Congo
Culture: African
