Male Power Figure

Teke men commission small figures such as this, called butti, to ensure their own well-being by harnessing the power of ancestral spirits. This dignified butti figure displays the beard, hairstyle and facial scarification of a high-status ritual leader and probably belonged to a village chief. The local healer-diviner consecrates and activates butti figures by inserting power substances such as plants, clays and animal parts into the figure's torso cavity. This sculpture's torso was subsequently covered by periodic applications of additional power substances: earth, clay and vegetal materials.