Nail figure used to fix oaths and heal the sick

  • Digital Images
  • Online

Available online

view Nail figure used to fix oaths and heal the sick

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

You can use this work for any purpose, including commercial uses, without restriction under copyright law. You should also provide attribution to the original work, source and licence. Read more about this licence.

Credit

Nail figure used to fix oaths and heal the sick. Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Selected images from this work

View 1 image

About this work

Description

This figure is known as a niski figure. Niski is the name given by Kongo peoples and other ethnic groups living in the Democratic Republic of Congo to extremely powerful collections of materials that are contained in receptacles known as futu. The niski is used( by pounding metal objects into the figure's wooden surface) to direct the spirit toward a specific aim: to protect, heal or destroy.

Subjects

Permanent link