Arts of Africa - NKisi Dog Fetish - DRC (Congo)H17xW9

Arts of Africa - NKisi Dog Fetish - DRC (Congo)H17xW9 (image 1/[null, null, null])
Arts of Africa - NKisi Dog Fetish - DRC (Congo)H17xW9 (image 2/[null, null, null])
Arts of Africa - NKisi Dog Fetish - DRC (Congo)H17xW9 (image 3/[null, null, null])
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When missionaries and travelers of the past encountered fetishes in the numerous villages and towns of the lower Congo, their judgments of these specific African works of art were unanimous. These "devil images" (Dapper, 1676; Merolla, 1683) "rudely carved in wood and covered with dirty rags" (J. K. Tuckey, 1816) were "ferocious in appearance" (H. M. Stanley, 1895). Lieutenant]. K. Tuckey compared them with "scarecrows" and the Catholic and Baptist missionaries at the end of the 19th century considered them "indecent" (J. H. Weeks, W. H. Bentley) or "frankly obscene" (A. J. Wauters).In modern times, after exposure to Dada and Surrealist objects, the Western response to the African fetish is no longer so negative. Their artistic form, however, still poses many problems and discussions. 1 Let me mention at least the evaluations of fetishes by two major representatives of the study of African art. Frans Olbrechts, in his book on the art of the Congo, stated that he saw a strong distinction between Kongo ancestor figures and fetish figures, the latter never revealing a "neat and technically perfect aspect". 2 William Fagg, on the other hand, speaking on the African fetish in general in the introduction to the Webster Plass Collection, concluded that the carver, in most cases, had consciously tried to make the fetishes beautiful and aesthetically read more
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