Masks that depict feminine beauty from the peoples of the Ngunie River basin are well known. Nearly all the masks that are in collections are coated with white kaolin. Black masks, such as this one, however, are rare.

The Punu link the color white with female beauty and call black ugly and male. The white masks (mukudj) appear in the daytime, in formal, structured performances by dancers on tall stilts. The black masks (ikwar) dance at night on short stilts and are thought of as more spontaneous. While they do not perform together, the Punu automatically compare and contrast mukudj and ikwar.

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