The composition of "The Fetish Man" is taken from a detail of an engraving in Captain Frederick Forbes’ book "Dahomey and the Dahomans." The image of the “Fetish Man” was set forth so as to emphasize the wildness and strangeness of the religious practices of the Dahomans in contrast to the Europeans. The figure has some resonance with images of Mami Wata, which was in turn inspired by lithographs of a circus performer named Nala Damajanti who performed with PT Barnum and the Folies Bergere. The global exchange of images is further evidence of the intertwined-ness of the cultures of Europe and Africa in this late stage.

Also of note is the great lengths to which Forbes and others went to depict the Africans as strange and foreign, all the while engaging them to sign detailed contracts concerning land use and unfettered trade agreements.