With a classical crescent form and following the Kuba artist's horror vacui, the Beyeler box is completely decorated with geometric designs including the traditional interlacing patterns inspired by raffia weaving. Nevertheless, this box distinguishes itself by a particularly rare detail: the representation of a human stylized face. This type of box was used by the Kuba people to contain a cosmetic called twool, a red powder made out of the Pterocarpus tree.

Cf. Krieger (1969, pl.229) for a related box sold by Leo Viktor Frobenius (1873-1938) to the Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin, in 1904. It now remains in the same museum (inv.III C 19833a.b).