This carved ancestral figure originates from the Middle Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea and dates to the early to mid-20th century. It is carved from dense hardwood and decorated with natural earth pigments in red, white, and black. The surface is deeply incised and coated with blackened pigment, with key details such as limbs and facial features picked out in contrasting colour.

The figure stands with sharply bent knees and angular arms, hands splayed and feet flattened. The head is elongated into a mask-like form with a prominent brow, beak-like hooked nose, and inlaid cowrie shell eyes set into hollow sockets. This combination of stylised body and exaggerated facial structure is consistent with Iatmul or related carving traditions from the Middle Sepik. Figures like this were placed in ceremonial structures or used during ritual events to invoke the presence and protection of ancestral spirits.