The Colonial Item Number: 2903/58 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Carved and painted wood figure of a man in colonial African cothing. The man wears a white pith helmet with a dark brown button on top of it. The man’s face and the rest of his skin is dark brown. In the left side of his mouth, he holds a small cigarette made of plastic. He wears a khaki uniform. The shirt has a collar, rolled-up sleeves and pockets on either side. There are four buttons down the front of his shirt. He stands with his hands in the pockets of his khaki shorts. His khaki shorts are secured with a dark brown belt and have two pockets on the back. His torso is quite long in proportion to his legs; only a small portion of his calves are visible underneath his shorts. He wears white socks which are pulled up high. He also wears light brown shoes. The man stands upon a dark brown, round base.

Iconographic Meaning

Represent an African colonial official, with special detail given to the uniform.