Zauberfigur "biteki", 19./ 20. Jahrhundert

D. R. Kongo, Yaka

Provenance	Size	Starting price / estimated price
Nancy & Gerhard Mennen Williams, Michigan, USA (as a gift to) Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan, USA (Accession no. "66.524") Williams built his collection of West African art while serving as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during the 1960s. He donated a part of his collection to The Detroit Institute of Arts about 1968.	H: 18 cm	This object is not available anymore.

Holz, Pigmente, pflanzliches Material/ Blätter, Stoff, Inventarnummer "66.524", Stoff brüchig

Kleine Figuren, die als Behälter oder Träger für magische Ladungen fungieren, werden "biteki" genannt.

Einmal damit ausgestattet, werden die Figuren zu einem bestimmten Typus von "nkisi", der durch unsichtbare Kräfte entweder "krank macht" - "kukwata" oder aber "gesund" - "kubuka".

Bourgeois, Arthur P., Art of the Yaka and Suku, Paris 1984, p. 107

"Negro African Art, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. G. Mennen Williams", Detroit Institute of Arts, 1966, p. 23, no. 110

Exhibited:

Detroit Institute of Arts: "Negro African Art, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. G. Mennen Williams", Dec 16, 1966 - Feb 19, 1967