On top of this mask, which shows the typical headdress of the ndeemba, is a wooden copy of a European earthenware pot. The pot is pierced by one of the sticks that form the headdress. It is a highly unusual model which would undoubtedly have attracted the audience’s attention. It possibly refers to a funerary practice that was in vogue particularly with the Yaka’s neighbours, the Kongo: European pots with the bottom intentionally pierced were placed on tree branches close to the grave.