The Vili, living on the Congolese Loango Coast, materialized supernatural powers in wooden monkey statues that served to protect their owners. A special type of nkisi or power figure, these statues were meant to protect a chief against sorcery. Vili chiefs were particularly subject to the maleficent actions of sorcerers and witches, against which such figures may have provided protection. As the Vili feared primates, the monkey iconography would make the nkisi even more fearsome and effective. A nkisi gained power through the hands of a ritual expert, the nganga, wo placed a spiritual force into the figure by inserting specific substances or attaching them through boxes or horns. Depending on the function of the nkisi, the nganga would select vegetal, mineral, and animal elements for their symbolic connotations. Such paraphernalia could include small fragments of monkeys, as the VIli assigned specific symbolic meaning to certain monkey species. For example, the kinkanda monkey was strong at resisting death, while the nsengi monkey stole food with exceptional malice and discovered people’s secrets by spying on their dreams. Less than a dozen Vili monkey figures are known: one in the Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal (185-2), one in the Leiden Museum (497-89; acquired in 1884), two in the collection of the Museum für Völkerkunde in Leipzig (MAf 4193 & Maf 5548), a few in private collections, and one in the Musée du quai Branly (71.1886.80.34), seated and eating a fruit, it was already acquired from Joseph Cholet in 1886, indicating the old age of this sculptural tradition. The latter, just as the Oliveda monkey shows no signs of ritual usage, its red-black polychromy still in a pristine condition. The Oliveda monkey is the only known example sculpted together with a snake, held by the left hand, while biting the left leg – perhaps explaining the surprised look of the monkey!