This imposing post once formed one of the supporting members of a ceremonial house in the lower Ramu River region on the north coast of New Guinea. Lower Ramu carving is part of the broader Lower Sepik tradition, which encompasses the art of the lower Sepik and Ramu Rivers, the Murik Lakes, and adjacent offshore islands.

The widespread exchange of ritual paraphernalia such as masks and figures throughout the Lower Sepik region results in a rich cross-fertilization of artistic styles. Indeed, although the Metropolitan's housepost was collected in the Ramu River area, the treatment of the human figure and the motifs employed suggest the artist originally came from the Murik Lakes or was strongly influenced by Murik techniques and iconography.

Art in the Lower Sepik region centers on the representation of important ancestors and spirits. The supporting posts of ceremonial houses, such as the present example, are richly decorated with depictions of the ancestors, spirits, and sacred masks associated with the resident clans. Representations of spirits frequently have long beaklike noses, which evoke the heads of totemic birds, while the noses of human ancestors are more naturalistically rendered. Images of both ancestors and spirits, as well as depictions of sacred masks, can be seen on the Metropolitan's housepost.