Figure (kiteki)
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Verified CC0

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Rights signal
CC0
Publication file
563 × 893 px · WebP
Suggested credit
Figure (kiteki) (late 1800s–mid-1900s). Gift of Katherine C. White Rights: CC0. https://clevelandart.org/art/1974.201

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From the museum record

Biteki is the generic name for Yaka figures used as containers for magical ingredients. After being charged by a ritual specialist, they become minkisi , or power objects, and gain the power to either cure or harm. This example, with various leadership accouterments, likely belongs to the category called phuungu . Placed inside a house, the statuette would have protected against witches and other evil.

Lupin’s visual index

A richly detailed wooden sculpture depicts a seated African tribal figure adorned with intricate patterns and holding a fish.

Machine-assisted description · useful for discovery, not scholarship.
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Figure (kiteki)

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