Our figure, depicted here in the classical standing position, arms detached from the body, hands resting on the hips, is said to be linked to women’s initiation rites and to represent certain spirits and ancestors who bestow the power of seduction. The red color, derived from pigments, refers to supernatural powers.
These statuettes were kept in small baskets attached to the rafters of houses.
She still has her ear ornaments and her fiber loincloth.
While at first glance this statuette suggests the style of the Murik Lakes region, certain details, such as the busted nose with dilated nostrils, the sunken eye sockets signified by shells, the protruding mouth and the headdress descending to neck level, are reminiscent of Biwat statues. It may have come from the little-known Lower Sepik region between the Yuat and Keram rivers.

This statuette is to be compared with a model collected during the Kaiserin Augusta Fluss Expedition (1908-1910) and reproduced in Otto Reche’s book1 with the same characteristics.
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1- Reche. 1913. Plate LXXI, no. 2, (Me.8962)