Triple head Nikisi Bakongo power fetish figure from Democratic Republic of Congo with original nail application and dotted cloth wrap. Nkisi is conceived as a power emanating from the unseen world of the dead, an omniscient force which is otherwise inaccessible to human perception. What is attached to the wood figure is determined by the powers to be associated with it. The Nkisi could be empowered to be a figure of ill-omen or of benevolence which protected against sickness or dangerous spirits.