The Fagalde Collection of West African Tribal Art - The Nkondi or Nkonde Nail Fetish

Fetishes were protective figures used by individuals, families, or whole communities to destroy or weaken evil spirits, prevent or cure illnesses, repel bad deeds, solemnize contracts or oath-taking, and decide arguments. A diviner or holy person would activate the statue, using magical substances. Fetishes gained power and were effective because people believed in them...
http://tribart.blogspot.fr/2017_02_01_archive.html#4155588619155947780

The nkondi are the most powerful of the nkisi. They were used to identify and hunt down unknown wrongdoers such as thieves, and people who were believed to cause sickness or death by occult means. They were also used to punish people who swore false oaths and villages which broke treaties...

The Fagalde Collection of West African Tribal Art - The African Maternity Figures

Afo peoples, Nigeria,
19th century (wood)

Afo maternity figures are thought to represent an ancestral mother and are owned by individual villages.These figures are brought out of their shrines once a year for the Aya ceremony. At this time, men pray for increased fertility in their wives and make gifts of food and money to the ancestor... (read more...)

Figures representing a mother and child seem to occur less frequently than other subjects, such as chiefs or warriors on horseback, reclining or kneeling females, or animals, especially snakes. The meaning of these ancient maternity figures is unknown. Perhaps such figures served as symbols of the primordial mother or another mythical figure in the history of a clan in which the sculpture originated. Regrettably, the stratigraphic context in which most of these objects have been discovered and other pertinent data are unknown. Even so, it is possible to date the objects... (continue...)

The Fagalde Collection of West African Tribal Art: African Rock Art - January 2017

Rock paintings and engravings are Africa’s oldest continuously practiced art form.

Depictions of elegant human figures, richly hued animals, and figures combining human and animal features - called therianthropes and associated with shamanism - continue to inspire admiration for their sophistication, energy, and direct, powerful forms...
http://tribart.blogspot.fr/2017_01_01_archive.html#7320084579284487210