This rare Murik Lakes ancestral figurine expresses a powerful mythical being. The expressiveness and striking appearance of its projection and posture are magnetic elements to behold on the heroic character represented. In addition to the masked character of the figure, a small zoomorphic element appears on the head of the figure.

The figure projects its intense gaze through coffee-bean shaped eyes placed within a mask-like zygomatic area framed by a deeply incised outline that encompasses the brow, curves at the edges of the eyes and descends to unite with the nasal feature, creating a countenance of almost Venetian characterization and filled with an enigmatic dynamic.

The aquiline nose curves to a sharp pointed tip and this overhangs an expressive incised mouth whose full lips are set into a beneficent smile through the diadem form of the lower lip; it is paralleled in curvature by the graceful sweep of the chin below.

The head is exaggerated in its proportions and, as such, is held forward to create a delicate equilibrium as the figure leans slightly back from the hips and the legs firmly rigid to the plantar features. The head ascends in oval form to a coiffure with a dramatic peaked hairline. At the crown of the head, a small quadruped – perhaps a canine or porcine creature – stands on all four legs, its head placed close to the scalp of the figure as if grazing on it and, in the process, creating a unifying dynamic with the protective ancestor below.

Striking ornamental incisions are placed on the shoulder blades as wide, coiling bands whose concentric form terminate in the middle of the blades and frame the columnar zone. The back tapers to a narrow waist and then flares again at the hips and generous buttocks, detailed with a deep intergluteal cleft.

Frontally, the shoulder blades curve past abstracted muscular details to slender arms; the shoulders conflate into a panel like form with the chest, descending to male pectorals, which are set low on the figure through the function of its hunched posture as it leans forward. The pectorals overhang a protuberant belly and this, in turn, the detail of a protruding phallus between the powerful upper legs.

The gently curving arms terminate at delicate hands placed on the hips of the figure, where the details of small hands and refined digits are expressed. The posture conveys an attendant and perceptive attitude from the figure.

The figure is further distinguished by the realistic flexibility of its limbs – the slightly bent legs and splayed hands on hips express the toll of many journeys on the individual. The flexion of the arms, shoulders and hips is remarkable in the naturalism of the carving, which has not been reduced to mere blocks. The powerfully bent legs are exemplified by linear elements that define and separate the upper legs from the faceted calves, which, in turn, descend to block-like plantar features firmly planted on the square base.