Judged by the average Papuasian standard, the artistic productions of the Mailu, like those of the Western Papuo-Melanesians in general, are distinctly unimportant and unoriginal. 104 Their decorative art is limited to a few unpainted carvings, of which the designs of the carved wood biritsa are, to my knowledge, the only original motives (sec pl. 17). The carved decorations on some of the house-posts are common to all Western Papuo-Melanesians; the motive universally found in the Mailu houses - the parallel rows of pyramids - being also one of the typical elements in the carvings on the dubu of the Central District.