This small head represents a smiling individual, possibly a Black African person. The figure has stylized hair in bands of curls or braids. Relatively little is known about the full form of this figure, as it is broken at the neck, but it may have been from a full-bodied depiction typical in the Hellenistic or Roman period (approximately between 300 BCE–300 CE). Such figures, particularly popular in Egypt, were mass-produced with the use of molds. These statuettes depicted people from all aspects of life, as well as theatrical stock characters.
The head was acquired by the Menil Collection as part of a large group of terracottas, some of which were once part of the collection of Dr. Daniel Marie Fouquet (1850–1914). This piece, however, does not appear in any of the associated publications and cannot be confirmed as having been owned by Dr. Fouquet.
