Beautiful in size, quality of carving and proportion of volume, this colonial Baulè sculpture, which most probably represents and impersonates a real-life soldier or airman, is astonishing for the abundance of detail with which the sculptor has equipped it. The bag-like headgear, the ranks on the arm and forearms, gaiters and boots give us a vivid testimony of a world that has now disappeared, that of the 1920s or 1930s in Africa, with an evocative and descriptive power almost as effective as a black and white photograph.
The sweet, harmonious face, the solution adopted for the eyebrows and nose, the small, closed, pouty mouth, the admirable hairstyle executed in a short, neat, military cut, tell us much about the sculptural mastery of this anonymous Baulé artist
Beautiful and intact patina, signs of use, visible defects and an old restoration at foot height