Wood Nail Fetish

A small framed panel at the chest, and a forest of iron around it.

This nail fetish is wood and glass. Power figures studded with nails and blades are most closely associated with the Kongo peoples of Central Africa, where each inserted piece of metal is generally thought to mark an oath, a petition or an agreement. A white-painted face with heavy-lidded eyes sits under a flat cap. The right arm is raised, its hand curled into a hooked shape. Blades and nails bristle around the shoulders and torso, framing a glass-covered box at the chest. Thick feet stand on a rough block. It is 17 inches wide and 52.5 high.

Every blade here was put there by someone with something to say.