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Kasongo. <em>Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju)</em>, 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 22.817_SL1_edited_version.jpg)
Kasongo. Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju), 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 22.817_SL1_edited_version.jpg)
Kasongo. <em>Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju)</em>, 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 22.817_SL1_edited_version.jpg)

Kasongo. Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju), 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 22.817_SL1_edited_version.jpg)

Kasongo. <em>Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju)</em>, 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.22.817_print_front_bw.jpg)

Kasongo. Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju), 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.22.817_print_front_bw.jpg)

Kasongo. <em>Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju)</em>, 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CONS.22.817_2007_xrs_detail01.jpg)

Kasongo. Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju), 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CONS.22.817_2007_xrs_detail01.jpg)

Kasongo. <em>Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju)</em>, 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CONS.22.817_2007_xrs_detail02.jpg)

Kasongo. Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju), 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CONS.22.817_2007_xrs_detail02.jpg)

Kasongo. <em>Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju)</em>, 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CONS.22.817_2007_xrs_detail03.jpg)

Kasongo. Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju), 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CONS.22.817_2007_xrs_detail03.jpg)

Kasongo. <em>Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju)</em>, 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CONS.22.817_2007_xrs_detail04.jpg)

Kasongo. Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju), 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CONS.22.817_2007_xrs_detail04.jpg)

Kasongo. <em>Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju)</em>, 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 22.817_bw.jpg)

Kasongo. Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju), 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 22.817_bw.jpg)

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Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju)

Arts of Africa

The bundle on top of the head of this figure contains magical ingredients meant to draw a spirit into the image, to assist its owner with tasks such as divination. The glossy surface comes from rubbing with palm oil.

CULTURE Kasongo
MEDIUM Wood, metal, resin
  • Place Made: Maniema Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo
    • DATES 19th century
    DIMENSIONS 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Arts of Africa
    ACCESSION NUMBER 22.817
    CREDIT LINE Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Female figure. Object carried on head. Holes on either side of the head suggest that it was used as a pendant. Covered with heavy coat of sticky oil. Will probably continue to exude oil to some extent even when some is removed by conservators. Condition: Good
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Kasongo. Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju), 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 22.817_SL1_edited_version.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 22.817_SL1_edited_version.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
    Kasongo. <em>Female Figure with Medicinal Charge (Musinju)</em>, 19th century. Wood, metal, resin, 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 in. (21.6 x 6.4 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.817. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 22.817_SL1_edited_version.jpg)

    TAGS

    19th century
    africa
    african
    brown
    congo
    Divination
    female
    Female Figure with Medicinal Charge
    female figurine
    figure
    Kasongo
    medicinal
    metal
    red
    resin
    sculpture
    shining
    standing
    statute
    sticky
    test
    woman
    wood
    x-ray

    TAGS

    19th century
    africa
    african
    brown
    congo
    Divination
    female
    Female Figure with Medicinal Charge
    female figurine
    figure
    Kasongo
    medicinal
    metal
    red
    resin
    sculpture
    shining
    standing
    statute
    sticky
    test
    woman
    wood
    x-ray

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