Ritual box (Punamham)

This lidded box (punamham in the Ifugao language) is attributed to the Kankanai culture. Carved from wood as a four-legged animal, the ritual container served to store supernaturally potent items such as charms, small figures or sculptures, and sacred stones. Such boxes were also receptacles for magic potions, medicines and the blood of sacrificial animals. The ritual pouring of blood over the box and the ritual items it held created the container’s dark patina.